The gift of coffee

Gentle reader, if you are not already sitting down, I think this might be a timely occasion to take said precautions and seat yourself. Are you prepared for the shock which is about to envelop this room?

Today has been a day of monumental occasion. This morning, when I woke up, I did not start the coffee. Nor did I grab my trusty coffee mug on the way out the door. Nor did I stop in Alpine or Daily Grind to refuel my trusty coffee mug. Nor did I get coffee in Panera (although it would have completed my bagel and cheese perfectly). No, dear friend, for the first time in almost a year and a half, I have had a day completely devoid of coffee. And let me tell you, it has certainly changed my life.

... I couldn't ask students if they wanted to go grab a cup of coffee. And "Would you like to grab a mug of milk?" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

... I found it hard to fully appreciate Panera, without the lovely free refills of delicious coffee constantly reminding me of my gratitude.

... I couldn't ask a friend to go grab coffee with me after dinner, because oh wait, I wasn't drinking coffee.

... and I took a nap on my kitchen floor around 4pm when the lack of caffeine kicked in.

But, all in all, I must say, this experimental separation from my beloved beverage merely made me miss it deeply, appreciate it more, and look for external sources of entertainment and ways of keeping myself awake. In exchange for the rooty-tooty richness of my cup of joe, I:

-- saw a fire engine do a three point turn in the middle of Franklin street. Classy.
-- learned that when you eat goat cheese and pass gas, it smells like a goat.
-- had a letter k made out of a straw as a present for me.
-- had an excuse to take a nap in the middle of the day.

But in seriousness, sometimes it is necessary to take good things in our lives and put them once again into prospective. As I took a day away from coffee, I noticed how much of my day depends on and centers around that love. Coffee is not in and of itself a bad thing, but it does have the potential to gain more prominence in my life than it should. Any good thing in our lives has that potential: food, drink, friends, sex, music, shopping, etc. But Jesus is the only one who can rule our lives. Coffee, or my dependence on it, should not even be close. Our good gifts, loves, and passions, should never replace our love for our Savior, our dependence on Him, and His prominence in our lives.

I don't know what those items are in your lives... but if you find yourself relying upon anything to the degree that you "can't live without it," I would urge you to put it in perspective. Take a day, week, month, hour away. It's a good thing to have passions and pleasures, and a plow to which we can lay a shoulder gladly. But those gifts of God should never never be given more time, weight, importance, or love than He receives. And if that means that we have to take a step back, in order to more fully appreciate the God and the gift, then I think that is the bean of choice...

So, Java Joe, you are my sweet love. But dearest love, my life does not rely on your rich aroma. And as a reminder of that fact, sometimes it is necessary that I lay aside what I love, so that I can keep perspective on what is truly the most important in life.