How a Drink I Hated Now Fuels My Daily Routine
Bonus Article
Important Disclaimer:
It feels somewhat unfaithful to be writing about coffee whilst drinking tea.
“For I do not understand my own actions.
For I do not do what I want,
but I do the very thing I hate.”Romans 7:151
I was on the train to London by 7:30am. Work experience2 is a rite of passage for British school kids, but this was far from my first job. I’d fried fish, baked bread, delivered newspapers, handed out flyers, mixed cement, and a dozen other odd job but the time I was sixteen, but this was different. For two weeks, I got to work for a branch of the government. The days were long, and the work they gave me was far more cerebral than anything I’d experienced up until that point.
Day One: My First Coffee
I hated coffee.
I ordered a latte, and then added extra milk and four sugars. It might have been more sugar…all I can remember is how bitter it tasted. The large coffee was gone in minutes. I downed it, felt the buzz, and got back to work. I had another, and then another the next day, and the next, until the end of the week rolled around and I had excised sugar altogether. Coffee was amazing! Why did I ever hesitate? Next I got rid of milk too, and once my time was up, I was hooked.
Coffee followed me wherever I went after that. When I moved to the continent, I got to try Turkish Coffee for the first time, it was a revelation. If you’ve not had the pleasure, essentially, it’s like a strong, dark, double espresso with the coffee grounds left in. They also boil it in sand—as if it wasn’t manly enough already.
When I moved back to the UK, I discovered local roasters, and began using a pourer for the first time. That first attempt was the best cup of coffee I had ever made. It has only gotten better from there.
It became a hobby, and then a habit.
I love coffee.
Day Seven - Rest
I hate resting.
I drink coffee to kick out the last remnants of sleep when I wake up. Honestly, if I were physically able, I’d probably sacrifice that last hour of sleep, just to get an extra hour into my day.
Coffee is easy, because I love it.
Rest is a chore, because…
Because?
Why do I hate rest?
Surely, rest is a good thing, no?
In Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, he laments the fact that he does the very things he hates. Why do them then?
Why neglect our time with God in prayer?
...our Bible reading?
...our friends?
...our family?
...our work?
Why do we lie, and steal, and lust, and hate?Day One - A Love Hate Relationship
It’s a new day, and God’s mercies rained down anew this morning. They settled on the ground ready to be discovered, our daily portion of spiritual bread.
Why did I drink the very coffee I hated? I knew I needed it. Ultimately, it was for my own good. I would have burned out after mere hours without it, so I held my nose, poured sugar in it, and drank it down. Why do I sin? Because I love the very thing I know I should hate.
Sometimes, we have to learn to love the things we hate.
Sometimes, we have to learn to hate the things we love.
Psalm 107:17-183 puts it like this:
Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction: they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
How foolish to neglect the very food that would sustain our lives?
But we do sometimes, don’t we?
We taste some difficult verse of the Bible, and our earthly tongues can’t handle how bitter it seems to us. We go to God in prayer, and despite the fact that we know what we should ask him for, our pride burns away within our hearts, begging us not to give in to humility.
Today is day one.
Tomorrow, day two.
These days might be hard.
On a random Monday morning in fifteen years time though, you’ll look back differently though. You’ll recall the days when your morning routine didn’t make any room for God, and as you drink your coffee—14g finely ground coffee beans, 200g of filtered water at 95°C, 2 Minutes in an Aeropress, 1 Minute Pour—you’ll think, “Why didn’t I do the things I love so dearly?”
Grace and Peace,
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Every now and then I allow myself to travel down those treacherous paths in my mind and I leave that space feeling gutted for that little girl. For me. But it’s not just sadness. Mingled with the mourning is gratitude and awe. I’m in awe of God. I know that if it wasn’t for him, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be typing these words today.
—
“If you are new to note-taking, you should attend to the most important thing: just write notes. Don’t worry about all the refined skills the master note-takers perform with dizzying ease. Just write notes.
Then, after a while, one of two things will happen.”
—
A short exhortation from
to mark up your Bible today! Do it!
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016)
Two weeks out of school with a business or workplace to learn what it is like to have a full time job.
Apologies if you read the earlier draft of this article in which I accidentally attributed this chapter to Proverbs! If only there were 107 chapters of Proverbs, eh??
I do enjoy my coffee. Yet, my palette is not as refined as yours and many others. I like my Bunn coffee pot that is basically a pour over machine. I use grocery store brand coffee. I can't drink Folgers, or k-cups, but I'm not far above that. For me, it's mostly about the focus that comes from the drink.
Recently - I've begun to cut it with about half decaff grounds. It's almost as helpful for focus, but much better for my anxiety disorder. Growing older is no fun.
From one connoisseur to another, you had me at coffee. ☕️