Coffee Time

August 12, 2015

After a day with my 93 year old mother and dinner with my much younger wife, Linda and I had coffee, sitting together on the back deck overlooking the creek. It's been a cool summer, so we haven't sat there as often as I would like, but after dinner coffee is almost a staple of life for us. Linda echoed what I've thought so often: "This is my favorite time of the day; when we just sit and talk." That favorite time is often after breakfast, but it's a rare day when we don't have that time. It's one of the added benefits of retirement. When we were younger and raising our children, life was as hectic as it is for our kids now raising theirs. But these days, we get to slow down and talk. We've always talked, but now we do it at our leisure, reviewing our day, planning tomorrow's.

Rarely, our conversations deal with momentous issues, but usually they are much more mundane, probably because most of life is pretty ordinary. But there is something deeply significant going on. It's not just words we share; it's heart and soul. Our coffee talks are almost sacramental, partaking of something greater than coffee and conversation, deepening our love and cementing our commitment. I don't know what there is about the lowly coffee bean that does that for us, but I'm grateful for that fabled Ethiopian shepherd who first discovered its mystery so long ago, and for our patriotic forefathers who after dumping the King's tea into the Boston harbor turned to Caribbean coffee to flavor their hot water. Maybe there's something to be said for high taxes; although I prefer our quiet talks.

I've often said that prayer is difficult for me. Maybe it's because it gets more wrapped up in requests than in simple talk. If all Linda and I did was ask favors of each other, our coffee times would quickly grow stale and stilted. It's not about asking; it's about connecting. Maybe prayer isn't as much about bringing big issues to God as it is with our bringing ourselves to him. He made the coffee; maybe in the morning we should have a cup together and just talk.