This past Saturday

morning a Henry County man took his wife to the airport and on his way

home at about 9 a.m., he made the decision to drop by Miller's Vineyard

for a couple of baskets of the most delicious muscadines and scuppernongs

in the southeast. Well, as it was, the vine keepers, Mr. And Mrs. Harold

Miller, were in the vineyard picking grapes in the rain. So, the Henry

County resident waited until noon when the sign said the grapes would

be ready to sell. The man knew the wait was worth it.

As an expert

in eating our southern grapes, I can tell you that the muscadines are

the best in recent years. Sweet. Plump. Juicy. Full. You cannot ask for

anything better. And it's the season when peaches and plums no longer

satisfy my citrus thirst. It's too early for Florida's gold orbs to satisfy.

But, boy, those muscadines.

But there is

something else going on at Miller's Vineyard. More than just about the

best locally grown fruit. Take, for instance, the price. Now, I have been

"religiously" going over to buy the liquid gold drops for more

than seven or eight years. Eight years ago the price was $5 a basket.

Today, the price is the same. The price has not increased and the size

of the basket hasn't decreased. Go figure. I figure something else is

going on at Miller's Vineyard.

Mr. Harold

Miller, especially when wearing his farmer hat, has a certain mystic about

him. Anyone who can grow as delicious grapes automatically has my admiration.

Why, in my field of business, Jesus said the Father in Heaven was the

keeper of the vineyard. In some way, I suppose, a man who grows grapes

is like our Father in Heaven. Maybe Mr. Miller is a father figure here

in Fayette.

You need to

try him out. If too many customers aren't competing for his attention,

you just might get his total attention. If so, you're in for some mighty

good counsel and some wise evaluation of the state of the world. I guess

that when one spends hours upon hours in the vineyard, pruning, tending,

and picking, one has time to think about important issues in the world

today. Maybe that's where Mr. Miller gets his wisdom in the vineyard.

He's Godly

but not religious. He's kind but not sticky sweet. He's got some things

pretty clear in his own mind, but is willing to listen to your slant on

things.

There have

been times that I have gone over to Mr. Miller's for scuppernongs and

came away encouraged in the work that God has given me to do through the

local church. Times have been when Mr. Miller cut to the chase and told

it like it really is: on church leadership, raising and discipling kids,

and America's current challenge. Do you hear me saying that you can get

a lot more at Miller's Vineyard than just about the best muscadines in

the southeast? That's what I am saying.

Perhaps that's

why the price has remained at $5 a basket for years. Perhaps for Mr. Miller

it is not about the money (that's a switch for Fayette County, isn't it?).

Perhaps it's about people and their needs. Mr. Miller, as I see, does

more ministry at the vineyard than many of ministers all put together

on Sunday morning. Keep it up, Mr. Miller.

In the day

and age when everybody wears the same designer clothes and we all look

alike, it's refreshing to run up against a brilliant mind wearing overalls

and selling grapes as an excuse to help people along the way.

The Rev.

Dr. John Hatcher is pastor of

River's Edge Community Church

1091 South Jeff Davis Drive

Fayetteville, Georgia 30215

770-719-0303

Back

to the Top of the Page