More in a cup

My love affair with coffee started many moons ago.  But it was never just been about coffee–there's always been more in a cup.

When I was young I wondered what was so special about the coffee my Dad–who I was dying to emulate–drank each morning.  Every day...without fail...ceremoniously.  Looked good.  Smelled good. Tasted...bitter.  But black is the way Dad drank it–and so black it was for me.  Who knew that a kid barely big enough to hold up a deer rifle could develop a taste for the bitter?  Well I guess Dad did...but only if my Mom stayed blissfully out of the loop on this my first grown up beverage.  And so coffee entered my life the way most things do–slowly at first, thoughtlessly putting my tastebuds under house-arrest.  Coffee it's you–it's you–it's always been you.  But it's never been just you.  There's always been more in a cup.

It wasn't till college that I found a utility for the black stuff that I faithfully continued to ground out and slurp down.  But coffee could not only be enjoyed but harnessed–and put to work for me.  Coffee was my Lieutenant in the field of all-nighters, early mornings, and energy boosts.  And coffee it was you who was there when I studied geography, when I traveled to the nucleus of cell and back, when we explored American colonies and History made us.  It was you and me in those days, but it was never just us.  There's always been more in a cup.

And when the "ology" of my thoughts turned from Psych to Theo...it was coffee who was beside me as I let God out of the box.  Coffee was my Captain of the sea of Divine Transcendence, Hypostatic Unions, Councils, Definitions, Footnotes galore.  Coffee it was you who was there when I studied elocutionary force, learned to write, appreciated His Bride, prepared to proclaim, when we explored the participle and it was all Greek to us.  I thought my plate was full in those days–If I had only known.  The plate got fuller, but it was the cup that stayed the same.  There's more of us now, but its not quite enough.  It's not just you.  There's always been more in a cup.

And now we've grown a little older and things have changed.  You're still there.  And I'm still here.  But it hasn't been about us.  It's been about the Lord of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  The life He has given me.  And the eternal one He has prepared.  But for now, you and I will continue our trek.  Not just you and me, but 1+  Thank you Lord Jesus...There's always been more in a cup.

Cellar Door

Gotta ring to it

Somebody once said–and some big shot linguists have agreed–that the most beautiful sounding words that can be placed next to each other in the English language are "cellar door."  The beauty is not in the the meaning of the short phrase, but rather, simply how the sound waves are pushed from the mouth, past the lips, and to the hearers ear.  Look it up on Wikipedia sometime you can become proficient on the subject in 2 minutes–or have Drew Barrymore teach you in the movie "Donnie Darko."  In my book it's a least kinda true.  I mean it definitely doesn't sound ugly or boring.  There are words that are definitely more fun to say.  And there are words that just plain sound better together.  But according to at least some, "cellar door" is the most beautiful combination.  Oh...and when you say it, I believe your supposed to say it with an English accent.  So not: sell-er dore...but sell-a-doe <with the faintest vapor of an "r" at the end.  Say it a couple of times–it sure is puuuuuuurrrrty!

I like words.  Words are important.  The right words are glorious.  The almost-right words are like taking a big ole' drink of completely flat coke, when you were expecting something a little more stimulating.  (More on this in another post).  Words are very powerful.  Even in a society and culture that has made words cheap, easy, overly accessible, over exposed, and spread way to thin, words sink their roots deep into the clockwork of the human mind.  The roots are so deep, words still matter, even in the midst of the truncated, butchered, bludgeoned and hash-tagged, non-sensical stuff that gets tweeted 140 characters at a time.  Words still matter...I have to hold on to that thought–It's what helps me sleep at night.

As believers in an invisible Father God, a Jesus who has gone to prepare a place for us, and a Holy Spirit who blows in, and all around the hearts of men and women, words are what we have.  Words are what we major in.  So it's good for me to think about big, fat, heavy, expensive words, that mean a lot.  I like to think about beautiful words.  I like to think about rhetoric, pregnant pauses, repetition, and proclamation.  I like to think about funny words, scary words, exciting words, and intriguing words...

but most of all I like to think about Cellar Doors.

Press Play, and Repeat

Ok so maybe you're not into the whole phonaesthetics thing.  Good, most people aren't.  But you have your own words.  You know...those words.  The words that keep coming together for you.  Those words that have to come together for you.  They are the words that have followed you around for quite sometime.  Words in the distance.  Words waiting in the wings.  Words on deck.  They are the words you keep around on a leash.  Not because they belong to you...but because they are the only words that speak when you shake them.  They are the only words that turn a phrase when you are drowning in the sea of meaningless chatter.  It's the bubbles when the world has gone flat.  

Cellar door.  Cellar door.  Not now.  Tomorrow.  Or before.  Those words are pretty.  But your words aren't Cellar Door.

But you and God know your words.  They are words that come in pairs and trios, and 4's and 5's.  They are the words that the Holy Spirit speaks into your ear when you can't help it, can't stand it, can't do it, can't deal with it.  They are your words...and they are the most beautiful sounding waves on your spectrum.  Words.

It won't be like this forever

You're not that different

I've forgiven worse

You're my child

No more pain

I haven't forgotten you

I'm bigger

Can't wait to hug you

It's almost time

I bet you have words.  Jesus died for these words.  He died for your words.  They don't belong to you...but they are words that speak when you shake them.  They don't belong to you...but Jesus likes to share.  These are the beautiful words.  These are the expensive words.  These are the words with weight and luster.  These are the words that stand the test of this time.  Keep a close watch on your words!  Don't let them wander away.  They are expensive words, and the world will try to take them away.  I like words.  The right words are glorious.  And your words...you know those words...those are the words of your soul's content.