The Holiness of Coffee

To say that anything or anyone besides God is holy is technically blasphemy. That is why I have opted to use the word holy in the loose sense in this most sacred essay. But seriously, I believe that the word holy can only be used to describe the defining characteristic of God. Another way of saying “God is holy” is to say that “God is other”. Pun intended, God is wholly other. He is such an otherness that the way in which he is other is completely unspecific. No one else can claim to have this attribute. To delve into discussion about what one should make of God’s calling his people to be holy, (in light of my somewhat arbitrary definition of “holy”) would be mostly off topic. For now it would suffice to say that God’s people can be other in so far as the term holy is used in our looser sense. People cannot be holy the way that God is holy. If they could then we could say that people can be God, and they most clearly cannot. But although they may not be able to dress up in God’s most distinguishing attribute, they may be able to wear a suitable imitation brand. In other words, people can be holy in the sense that they can be different, and separate, in the sense that they stand out, and in the particular case of God’s people they stand out for a variety of moral reasons. The way that I’m using holiness as it pertains to coffee is mostly in that way. But I shall tweak it slightly even now. Let the reader from here on in comprehend that for the rest of the essay the term “holy” will mean: set apart for an anointed purpose. I believe that any object can be imbued with a meaning that gives it this quality of holiness. I also believe that an object can be used for holy purposes. As missionaries to a materialistic, egomaniacal, selfish, gluttonous, people (we missionaries are not exempt from these descriptions), to know what objects can be used for holy purposes are of great advantage. With that stated, coffee is holy. May we not let it go to waste?Water is the beverage of choice for survival, and coincidentally it is not very often the beverage of choice. Alcohol is the beverage of choice for people who’d like to forget. Coffee (among many uses) is the beverage of choice for people who want to talk. How often to people really want to talk in this country? How beneficial is it when people talk to each other, as they say, heart to heart? And how often do they do it over a cup of coffee? I say that coffee is holy because coffee makes people take a break from the illusion of progress that motors their schedules, and has them sitting down talking with other beings made in the image of God. Doesn’t the New Testament propound a keen emphasis on community? What would become of Paul’s ecclesiology if community were not an emphasis? In fact, elsewhere cases have been made that community is the heart of Pauline theology. In working upon this assumption, and the empirical evidence suggesting that coffee brings people together, we can confidently deduce that coffee is a holy object that is a big help in the fulfillment of the Pauline vision for the church. If the church wants to create community, they must facilitate conversation, if they want to facilitate conversation, they must serve coffee. If they want to serve coffee, it must not be Folgers or Maxwell House. Not to mention that coffee tastes gloriously like motor oil, while at the same time fueling it’s partakers for hours. Also, anything that comes from a bean is fun. Not to mention the rituals that accompanies coffee. For most people coffee is more than a nasty beverage, coffee is a sensual experience. Think of all that goes into the coffee experience, the smell of the beans, the sound of the grinder, the sound of it brewing, the sound of it pouring into your mug, the feel of ceramic on your hands, and on your mouth, the smell of the newly brewed coffee, the reddish, brownish, black glow of the liquid. The inability to get the tune, “the best part of waking up” out of your head… yeah… There truly is nothing like coffee.Coffee is one of three things that the Coal Mine Café’ wants to sanctify for the kingdom of God. The other two are music, and action. So if you liked this little essay, you’re in luck because there are more to come. There will finally be serious attempts to unfold the theology of community as well as the philosophy of holy objects which will serve as the foundation of everything that the Coal Mine Café will be.