Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Joy of...Coffee


There's just something about coffee. I love it. I wonder if all the problems of the world could be settled if we just sat down around a table and drank coffee and relaxed. I've had coffee from Greece where it's so thick and rich that the grounds stick to the sides and they tell your fortune from them. I've had coffee in the Ukraine and Hungary where it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up straight. They sip it from little cups savoring each drop wherein I took them like shots of whiskey one right after the other (not that I've ever had whiskey before...). I've had coffee with dignitaries and coffee with homeless people. Coffee is the great equalizer and coffee creates memories.

I have just as many memories in my coffee as I do non-dairy creamer. My first mug of klah came from my grandmother. I had a paper route when I was 13 and we were living with my grandparents. Each morning, I'd start my day with a mug of the warm delicious caffeine and she'd smoke her cigarette having the satisfaction of being the first person on the street to do the crossword puzzles.

There's something about coffee and spiritual health as well. As I dive into God's word each week, coffee is my constant companion. Always there as I struggle and wrestle with the word of God. It's with me as I pray. And it's with me after church when we're socializing and having the Adult Bible Study. And it's here with me now, cradled in a large green mug bearing the name of Michigan and decorated with evergreen trees and a full moon.

More and more coffee has been seen for its medicinal benefits as well. When drunk black, it helps with weight loss, athletic performance and even production of calcium(or so says Yahoo! Health). When diagnosed with ADD, my doc asked if I'd ever tried upping my caffeine intake. Generally when people are first diagnosed with ADD, they try caffeine because it in fact has a calming effect on people with ADD. After I explained my two pot a day habit, medication was instead prescribed. Apparently, I'd been self medicating all these years.

What about you? How has coffee been there for you?

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