More on Beer (this time as Vocation)

A while back I ran a post on the goodness of beer. I recently was pointed to this blogpost by a new Doctor of Ministry program co-participant, Nathan Tutor. Nathan is planting a PCA church in cooperation with the Acts 29 Network in Nashville, TN. Here's a general description of Nathan's heart and ministry: http://harvestnashville.com/#/welcome/pastors-page.  

The blogpost is found here: http://www.westernconservatory.org/article/2011/05/alcohol-movies-and-other-toxins and tells the story of Arthur Guinness. It describes both how Guinness saw his work as a brewer to be a calling as well as saw the redemptive possibilities of taking items used by the fallen structures and peoples of this world and turning them for good. Here's an excerpt from the post:

(Arthur) Guinness had a vision for creating something much better than common beer. Writes one Irish author, “You can still get it on the National Health Service prescribed to you when you're pregnant because it's so good for you. My wife drank it throughout her first pregnancy. Guinness is exported from Ireland as a food because it is so full of minerals and natural trace elements. It has incredible qualities to it. So Guinness made men a drink that was good for them. He was an entrepreneur and, believe it or not, people started buying it and drinking it. And now it's the national drink of Ireland. Irish men don't go and drink much whiskey; they go and drink Guinness. And its almost impossible to get drunk on Guinness because its so heavy, so full of iron that you feel so full you can't drink more than a couple of pints. It has a fairly low alcohol level.”

The BBC reported a few years ago that Guinness can be beneficial to the heart. Researchers found that "'antioxidant compounds' in the Guinness, similar to those found in certain fruits and vegetables, are responsible for health benefits because they slow down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on the artery walls.”

…It is reported that the Guinness family quietly poured much of their profit into Protestant missions activity around the world in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today the brewery, in the same location, using the same Irish water source and Irish barley, brings in some two billion pounds per year.

Can we take a lesson from the legacy of Arthur Guinness? Here is a man who took initiative to wean an addicted population away from poison by modifying and using an alcoholic beverage to do it. He changed the culture with faith, initiative, creativity and vision, combining the arts and sciences of brewing.