The Eternal Cup of Coffee

I could sit with a cup of coffee all day in prayer.

There is something about this small vessel of darkness that invites such bright communion with God. Its warmth wraps my soul in the blanket of His love and stirs my mind toward heavenly contemplation.

I sit patiently in His presence, as patient as I sip the steaming cup. As the heat cools, so too does the piercing intensity of truth. What first burns me into repentance soon softens my heart, until what remains is a perfectly drinkable cup of love poured into my soul.

Perhaps this is why I find it so difficult to part with coffee. It fills me with poetry, it brings me to tears. It vivifies the world around me — the leaves blaze with color against its blackness, and the fresh air mingling with its chocolate aroma becomes like incense, lifting my soul toward Heaven.

It reminds me that even in what seems dark, God is present. If we endure with patience — like sitting in a sauna, bearing the heat until it becomes bearable — even what is difficult is transformed into joy, into something to be shared by all.