Coffee and Ritual

The one treat I have indulged in is a coffee machine (thanks M&D). I think it is going through the ritual of making a coffee which is satisfying. Grinding the beans, and smelling the fresh grinds, running the water through the system twice. Brewing the coffee the aroma rising and then steaming the milk. It cannot be rushed or you end up with a luke-warm coffee.

It is anything but instant, and I don't always have time to do it. When I worked as mortgage adviser I would be in back to back meetings and would not always have time for a break, sometimes missing lunch or only having a snatched break but I liked making the customers a cup of tea as I had to go down stairs and boil the kettle and brew the tea or make the coffee which gave me time to think and clear my head from the last appointment.

As a trainee priest we have a lot of ritual in the Church of England but I am beginning to feel the need to emphasise the pauses within a service, that we might stop and prepare ourselves as we go. In fact this was a bit of the conversation I had with someone from church on Monday. In life leaving and entering are important, in our services our children leave the service and come back in for communion and we have a start and a finish, so some of my thinking over the last few days has been on this.

However back to the coffee for a minute sometimes you need tools to assist you and it takes time to do these things well. My lovely wife bought me this espresso cup:

You may have noticed it says Grumpy Mule on it, I think she may be referring to the occasional morning when a coffee seems to be an essential before saying hello.

It will take time before I have worked through some of these things and even with the right tools I still need to slow down and not rush and rely on the Holy Spirit to reveal more of Jesus.

I enjoy coffee and I think it is great hospitality to be able to offer it to visitors, a warm welcome and fresh cup of coffee I think are essential! I hope that our rituals may be life giving because God is the author of life and Jesus came to bring life and life in all its fullness...






Coffee drinks illustrated - Lokesh Dhakar