Acts 28:2
The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold.
I loved coffee before I ever drank it. I loved it because it reminded me of my grandmother who drank coffee all day hot in the morning and then if it was summer iced in the afternoon. It also reminded me of my great aunt and great grandmother as they drank coffee with my grandmother around a big dining room table. I loved the smell, the camaraderie it created but I did not drink coffee until I was in my 30's.
I was a hot cocoa girl while my friends drank coffee until one morning while working at a library fair I drank from someone else's mug and got coffee instead of cocoa and my world change! My close friend at the time who lived across the street jumped for joy, "Now we can have coffee in the morning!"
I was in! I was now a part of the group, no longer the outsider. I made new friends as I stood in line at the local convenience store, just smiling at each other as we poured and stirred, "Yup, we understand each other."
I now understood the big picture of coffee, it wasn't just drinking the coffee but it was a process. One begins by making a pot of coffee listening to the gurgle and hiss as the aroma rises and fillsthe kitchen with the smell of comfort. That simple act means something--company is coming, a lazy slow morning with my husband is ahead, dessert is on its way or I have one foot out the door and need COFFEE!
When friends get together and someone "puts on a pot of coffee" it says: "Your are welcome here" and not just for a short visit. It means let's sip and talk and sip some more.
I have wonderful memories that involve coffee. There was a group of us, about six people, who would pray for ministry teams drinking coffee into the night. We would camp with a youth group once a year and a friend's only job was to make coffee, there is nothing like camp coffee! Recently a young woman, who is like a daughter to me, and I would drive around looking for "intriguing" coffee shops. Gathering at the home of friends (a rotation of homes) after church for a pot of coffee was routine because let's face it...CHURCH COFFEE _______! You fill in the blank.
As a pastor I have sat in homes and shared in people's lives in incredible ways often with a cup of coffee.
And so my treasures may include coffee but for the most part it also means my treasures are my friends new and old. The friends that give me the right look and I know we are on our way to Dunkin' Donuts, (though if I am with my youngest coffee compadre---Starbucks) or the new friends I make simply by saying yes to a "cup of joe". Call it what you want, drink it black or with cream and sugar, flavored (one friend calls flavored coffee "foo foo coffee"), or plain old Maxwell House, hot or cold, coffee can be a great beginning.
Now back to my friend who wanted me to talk about coffee, actually about how mad I was that I got three creams instead of one in my iced coffee, admittedly not one of my best moments. I met this person almost 10 years ago at Licensing School for Local Pastors and over that week and a half of 14 hour days in the summer...we drank a lot of iced coffee together!
Whether we drink coffee or not the idea and feelings of hospitality it conjures up is worth noting and imitating in some other way.
Carrie Newcomb sings
" Here we are all in one place. The wants and the wounds of the human race. Despair and hope sit face to face when you come in from the cold. Let her fill your cup with something kind. Eggs and toast like bread and wine, she's heard it all so she don't mind." (I shared these lyrics at our Bishop's day last week as he described a coffee house ministry so they were fresh on my mind)
