By: Judith Hargett

Two of my grandmas shared a home for many years. They kept a coffeepot on the stove most of the day. One of those non-electric, percolator types. I don’t know what time that coffeepot got put into service each morning, but it stood at the ready much of the day for that time when one of the grandmas, or an unsuspecting guest, was ready to sit a spell with a cup of some of the blackest coffee known to man. By the time the pot got put away in the evening you can be sure any remaining coffee would be strong enough to make a normally functioning person do a jig with plenty of high steppin’ moves and energy left over to keep them awake ‘til the roosters started crowing…though I never observed my grandmas performing any such activities. Their systems had apparently adjusted to the high doses of caffeine through the years. Or maybe the caffeine was absorbed by the hot peppers and turnip greens that were a big part of their diets. I concluded from my study of these two people that coffee could not be overly hazardous to your health as both grandmas lived past their 100th birthday. Some might say this conclusion has little scientific merit but it serves my purpose which is to continue enjoying my coffee without guilt each morning.

Now my grandma on the other side of the family tree drank her coffee from her saucer. I believe she poured the coffee out of her China cup into the saucer to cool it. As a child I didn’t question such behavior. I just accepted that’s how folks drank coffee in that house. This grandma also added lots of sugar and cream to her coffee which made it all the more appealing to the group of grandkids that lingered around her table after Sunday lunch like a litter of kittens hoping for a saucer of milk.

Still, I didn’t become a dedicated coffee drinker myself until I joined the Air Force. Coffee breaks were an important part of the workday schedule in my group. I soon realized it was much quicker to grab a cup of coffee than to brew a cup of tea. Important chitchat could be missed in the few extra seconds required to make the tea. A coffee pot has been one of the office “perks” in every job I’ve had since. I have shared many a cup with friends and family through the years.

Sadly, I just recently lost one of those friends I’d shared many cups of coffee with in years past. We had worked together for an oil company in Houston. He died early New Year’s morning when the car he was riding in was hit by someone who ran a red light…someone who’d had way too much alcohol to drink. My friend died at the scene, no doubt believing he had plenty of time left to visit his daughter who was on her way home from Japan, time to meet his son’s brand new baby daughter and time to spend with friends in the New Year. The e-mails he’d recently sent us sharing his latest jokes still sit in our in-box. Sometimes my coffee is seasoned with sorrow.

I believe the Scriptures make it clear that we will eat and drink real food in our resurrected bodies, just as Jesus did. I don’t know if coffee will be one of those beverages we will enjoy. Since God created us and He created food, He knows what will be pleasing to His family when we have our taste buds perfectly restored. But while we’re walking on this earth in our original bodies, we should remember this admonition from Paul to the Corinthians: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (I Cor 10:31).

Why not invite an unsaved friend to join you for a cup of their favorite inoffensive beverage and begin building a relationship with them so you might be able to share the Gospel with them. Then maybe one day you will be able to share a cup of heavenly coffee together.