Coffee and God

I stood on my porch this morning enjoying a steaming cup of coffee and an incredible sunrise. The cooler mornings of fall have finally arrived and gently sprinkled morning dew over a seemingly revitalized lawn. Perhaps the plentiful rain of the past few days will add new life to a lawn that suffered through a very hot Texas summer.
As I sip my coffee and look to the east, gazing past my neighbor's cornfield, I enjoy a sunrise that is filled with hues of orange and blue that could only be created by the palette of God.The morning song of a nearby bird is the only sound that is heard.The serenity of this morning and all her elements have a numbing sway, providing a perfect moment to have conversations with God.

All at once the songs of the bird were replaced with the deep bass sounds of a eighteen wheelers air-horn traveling down IH35. The interstate is not much further from my front porch than my neighbor's cornfield. The serenity and numbness of my perfect morning end abruptly with the driver's warning sound.

Reality rains down. I take a closer look at my lawn and realize that the new growth is actually weeds, the majority of the Bermuda is still brown. There has been no corn in my neighbor's field for months, having succumbed to record high heat and watering restrictions. Even calling him my neighbor is off target, we have exchanged morning nods on a few occasions, but I don't even know his name. My porch, which moments ago felt spacious, in reality is only four foot by four foot, and suddenly just a place to wipe your feet.

My experience this morning is a microcosm of the daily life of an addict. Many addict's are able to reach moments of serenity and numbness by swallowing a pill. Some of these addicts think that they are fooling everyone into believing that they are "straight and sober". They believe their addictive behavior is undetected by friends and family. They do not realize that their secret life is just being ignored by others after years of concern and tears. With great hypocrisy they attend their weekly support meetings, pretending to be great examples to others just beginning a life of sobriety. After the meetings, after a day of practiced deception, the addict steps onto her own 4X4 porch and goes numb. I pray each day that their moment of numbness will be interrupted by life's air-horn, allowing reality to rain down.

This morning there were only two realities; coffee and God.

The addict realizes their "coffee", their drug of choice is authentic. Do they realize the veritable nature of God? Can they accept that God will help? Will they allow God to paint sunrises in their life that signal a new beginning?

Another morning will find me again on my porch, enjoying conversations with God. You see it is through these conversations that faith allows me to know that interruptions are temporary, that when beautiful sunrises turn into dark gray clouds, that when lawns give way to weeds, and when my coffee turns cold, He will still be there...listening.