“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” – Exodus 3:5
I have probably talked about this before in my writings, but this morning I am just so very grateful for coffee.
I was reading some article the other day that cautioned against drinking coffee, I also found one describing coffee as a proven health booster and yet another touting its benefits vis-a-vis staving off dementia. And so, just like politics, it appears we can shop around until we find “reporting” that agrees with what we already think – or at least want to be true.
All I know is that coffee is an important part of a morning routine that I believe is just about perfect.
Morning Routine:
I slip out of bed around 6:30, drink a small glass of orange juice, set the coffee going then take Max for his morning walk (Today we hiked across the Main Street bridge and back, then down through Riverfront Park. It was 26-degrees, so just right for my Poland coat from last year’s Christmas in Kraków!).
When we get back I take my laptop to the kitchen where I organize my thoughts, talk with God about the direction of my writing for the day, read something devotional and take a few sips from that first mug of coffee.
I know some people roll their eyes in response to quips such as Java and Jesus, reading the Book of He-Brews and Standing on Holy Grounds – but to me it’s not flippant it’s about the fact that I find God in something that I enjoy so much.
That first cup of coffee in the morning is, for me, sacramental in that I experience the presence of God in that moment.
This is a similar idea to that expressed in the movie Chariots of Fire (1981), when future missionary Eric Liddell countered the disapproval of stuffy religious people by insisting “When I run I feel His pleasure.”
When we are learning to practice God’s presence throughout the day, then The Spirit is identifiable in many otherwise mundane experiences. Rather than us waiting for some “feeling” of God that is foreign to regular life, I am learning that the presence of the Holy is not separate from my day-to-day but very much a part of it.
When we invite God into our coffee-drinking, our walking, our cooking, our bill-paying, our relationships, our reading, our social media, our recreation and so much more… we are necessarily transformed.
We are constantly, I believe, standing on Holy Ground – DEREK