Thank Fullness

“You say grace before meals. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.” ~G.K. Chesterton, English writer (1874-1936)

I love coffee and so did my former office partner Deacon Jerry. Occasionally we would take a stroll to the local coffee purveyor for a quick “cup of Joe”. Watching people, while waiting in line, is often the best part of the experience. It is fascinating to hear the many requests made for every possible combination of ingredients and preparation processes.

But what is most interesting is observing customers take their first sip. One morning I watched as a well dressed, middle-aged woman, in business attire, took her first careful taste of the dark brown elixir. After a brief “slurp”, she carefully placed her cup in front of her, tilted her head back, facing heavenward, closed her eyes with what approximated religious rapture and muttered, “Oh thank God”. If she was truly praying to a God at the time, I’m sure his name was STARBUCK.

In point of fact, just as we should thank God for everything in our lives, we should thank Him for that morning “jump start fluid” many of us crave. Our coffee comes from countries such as Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Honduras and Uganda. Harvesting requires a great deal of manual labor as the coffee berries have to be handpicked.

The berries are then roasted, stored, bagged, ground, repackaged, shipped and stocked. Just imagine the number of people who labor long and hard (many in third world countries, paid only a few dollars a day) to bring us our coffee. Not to mention the counter chemist who creates that special customized concoction just for us.

Yes, the lady had it right, though she probably didn’t realize it. We should take a moment to pray to God to thank Him for our cup of coffee every morning and for the health and well-being of all the people it took to get it to us. What a great way to get started in the morning…even if it did take a double macchiato, with a shot of caramel, whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles…yuk! I’ll take mine black thank you.

Dear God: Thank you…for everything.

“Bless us o' Lord, and these thy (many) gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty.”

© 2008, 2011 James E. Carper. All rights reserved.

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