Thursday, January 11, 2007

God & Joe


I think God considers coffee holy.
It can be simple or elegant.
Plain black or cappucino.
Decaf or espresso.
It is the best smell in the world. It is delicious hot or cold.
Coffee looks prettiest in a clear coffee cup.
Coffee is attached to my youngest memories because I come from a coffee-driven family long before the generation of coffee-achievers. It is the mellow scent of my grandparents house, of the firehouses my dad worked at, Dunkin' Donuts runs up the street for special treats and every morning as it wafted through my own home as a child.
We all know the coffee specifics of one another in our family and immediately "put on a fresh pot" when arriving at one anothers homes. My dad and myself, black. My mom, creamora & sweetener. Kathy, cream & sugar. Grandma, sweetener and maybe a little cream but usually not. My sister, the Mr. & Daboyz (the lesser of of the coffee-drinkers) only drink it in specialty form or very sweet and creamy and not on a daily basis. We love them anyway but with an air of suspicion.
My dad, my bro-in-law and myself like it way dark. My mom sputters and adds more cream when we make it.
I let Daboyz drink coffee after me from the time they were able to handle a cup. Mac loved it then so I have hope he'll return to his roots. Jay likes Starbucks best and shows great promise for following in the family coffee-drinking tradition.
Although they make coffee at work every morning, I bring my own in a travel mug because I like my brew stronger than they make it. There is one person I work with, Brian, who understands the magic of coffee-making. When he's there, I drink with him. Coffee I mean.
I do not like coffee from paper or styrofoam cups. I have several mugs that hold about 14-16 oz. each at home and that is what I generally use. I don't like plastic mugs either. If I bring home coffee from Starbucks or Tim Horton's, I pour it into a real cup.
If you're not a coffee-drinker, you've probably clicked away already. If you are, you think this post is sacred and await the discovery of the Apostle Paul's writings on coffee drinking in pursuit of a higher calling.
Me, I love coffee.
It's more than just a wake-me-up (although why wake up without it?)It's memories of waking up to familiar sounds and scents. It's a simple and perfect offering to guests. It's the knowing of each other in the basic ways, like how we take our coffee. It is a harkening to gestures of love without great effort or expense; how about a cup of coffee?
It is a simple God-thing to me. Coffee? Yeah. God is in small and simple pleasure. He doesn't move only in thunder bolts and hurricanes and miraculous healings on death beds. He loves in rain on roof-tops and soup on stove-tops and the way the tops of babies' heads smell.
He loves in a million little gestures that will sneak past us if we aren't paying attention.
This I know for certain, God loves a good cup of strong black coffee.
How is God loving you today?
Proverbs 7:18
Come, let's drink deep of love till morning; let's enjoy ourselves with love!

12 comments:

Margie said...

who cries over coffee? I wish i would have read this at home instead of at work (they reinstated my blogging privliges) cuz now i am misty!

tina fabulous said...

when i was a kid, i couldnt WAIT to be grown up and drink coffee and talk about interesting things with my interesting grown up friends.

which still has not happened.

Sara said...

t~ your first problem is your choice of friends. very little potential for grown-up or interesting conversation there. however, if you feel the need to discuss post nasal trip as opposed to post-modern conservatism; you know where to find me.

Margie said...

post nasal trip? is that were you trip over your own nose after it's been running?

Deb said...

....no....I am not you after all.

I hate coffee. (I know, you're gasping with horror and disbelief...) I love the way it smells - especially the specialty coffees - and when I lived near a Starbucks, I could often be found sitting there reading a book, enjoying the aroma. Don't make me drink it though. ick.

Now, pour me a cup of tea --chai peach latte is my favorite!

I'm with you on the mug thing though --clear is best --and bigger is better --and I hate styrofoam and plastic.

I'm also with you on the "God loves us in the little things" - in fact, just this morning, held Olivia and smelled her hair and thanked the Lord for the incredible blessing that she is in my life.

I'm thinking that Paul's epistle on coffee is one of those missing books that isn't supposed to be found....

I hate coffee-flavored candy and chocolate too. I know - it's just wrong. deal with it.

Sara said...

post nasal DRIP. shut up margie.

Margie said...

Just thought you were inventing something new :)

Sara said...

oh, yeah, that is what it was! i'm inventing a post nasal trip. pack your rain slicker! ha!

tina fabulous said...

the post nasal trip is more of a movement. its sweeping the nation.

you are seldom wrong and right again concerning my choice of friends. we shall convene at starbucks to discuss this at length. i think they have coffee there.

Pat said...

I only sputter after taking a post nasal trip.

Jada's Gigi said...

I'm with Deb on this one..love the smell...don't particularly like to drink it...except for hazelnut, lots of cream and sugar, occasionally...I do feel this nostalgic over iced sweet tea however...minus the aroma...and I do love that God loves in the details...
I felt His love last night in my Jada's freshly washed curls...:)

Beverly said...

I'm not sure how I arrived here, but I did indeed enjoy your post about coffee.

My parents always put on a pot in the afternoon when they came in from work. I cannot remember when I didn't drink coffee.

I'm with you about the plastic and styrofoam as well. I have a friend who serves it in clear glass mugs, and I don't even like that.