coffee

First Things First

Posted on by Betsy

I want to start today by taking a little survey. I am interested to know what the first thing is you do every morning. Not about multiple trips to the loo, but when you are finally up and about, what is the first thing you do?

I get coffee. My first act of the day is to tumble out of bed, stumble to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of ambition, then yawn and stretch and try to come alive. From that point I usually write for a few hours, walk the dog, go for a run, etc. but nothing happens until I have consumed that first cup of joe.

Apparently I am in good company. According to a survey done in January, over 73% of Americans drink coffee first thing in the morning. 51% purchase coffee from a coffee shop, 48% report that Starbucks coffee is their favorite brand, followed by Dunkin and Folgers. The survey also noted that 25% of people like to sip on espresso martinis, although maybe not first thing in the morning!! And weirdly, 16% of coffee drinkers prefer decaf, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why. It’s like eating a reduced fat Oreo. Why?? Just why??

We’re talking about early morning habits this morning because today we are reading Psalm 63. David the poet-king clearly stated his early morning habit at the very beginning of this beautiful psalm. Early in the morning, David rises and seeks God:

Psalm 63 (NKJV) A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.

2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

6 When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
7 Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8 My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10 They shall fall by the sword;
They shall be a portion for jackals.

11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.

This reference to seeking God early in the morning has made Psalm 63 a daily morning reading in the Eastern Orthodox Church for centuries.

I want to ask you something. What would your day be like if you sought God first thing every morning? Do you think the day might take shape differently? And what if those 73% of Americans reached for the Word of God first thing every day instead of coffee? What if we thirsted and longed for God the same way we thirst and long for coffee? Do you think that would make a difference in how people behave? I do. Perhaps we could be like our Eastern Orthodox friends and get up every morning and read this psalm aloud to start our day.

We’ll unpack this psalm over the next two devotionals, but for now, go back and read this psalm out loud. Perhaps we could make a practice of reading it out loud every morning and see how it shapes our day.

Are you in?

Early Rising by Michelle Robertson

Percolating

Posted on by Betsy

Back before Keurigs, way before Starbucks, even before drip coffee makers with automatic shut-off switches, there was an ancient device known as a percolator. You might run across this historical artifact today in an antique store, the Pawn shop, or any local church’s kitchen.

It was a thing of beauty and simplicity. A basket that holds the coffee grounds sits atop a long, thin metal cylinder. This unit is inserted into a metal coffee pot. Water is poured into the pot, and the attached cord is plugged in. As the water heats, it bubbles and percolates up through the cylinder and over the basket, running through the coffee grounds and magically, you have coffee. You couldn’t pre-set it the night before, and you had to unplug it to turn it off, but hey, if it was good enough for the original Apollo astronauts, it was good enough.

I love the idea of percolating. Heating something up, bringing it to boil, channeling the bubbles, and then watching it produce something well-considered is a joy. Good things come when we percolate. Sermons, ideas, stories, arguments, speeches, hanging wallpaper with your spouse, new ventures, movies…all manner of things benefit from taking the time to percolate.

Percolating should precede any major decision we make. Thinking about divorce?Percolate. Contemplating a move? Percolate. Ready to pop the question? Percolate. About to send an angry email/post a snippy retort/yell at your teenager? PERCOLATE.

The reason percolating is so effective is that it gives you time to step away from your immediate and emotional response and allows the Holy Spirit to weigh in with other ways to go about doing the same thing.

Opening ourselves to God’s guidance always pays off. I learned the hard way not to immediately fire off an email when I was deeply aggravated. I learned that after a time when I fired off an email when I was deeply aggravated. I regret it to this day. How about you? Ever wish in hindsight that you had waited for the right words to come to you?

Matthew 10 (The Message)

17-20 “Don’t be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation—just because you believe in me. Don’t be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they’ve done you—and me—a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news!

And don’t worry about what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.

That’s why percolating is such a helpful practice. In the slow warming up of an idea, in the increasing heat of a completed thought, and in the bubbles of the Holy Spirit rising up in your spirit, your finished product will be soooo much better. Like the best cup of brewed Sumatra with heavy cream, it will be a delight rather than a thin and possibly nasty version of what it should have been.

So take a beat. Stop and breathe. Suspend your need for instant gratification and sloooow youuuuur rolllll. Give God a chance to enter in, and let percolation have its way. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply them. You’ll never regret letting God percolate inside you.

Fresh brewed.