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.