On Giving Thanks – Coffee

Greetings Dear Reader,

Some of you will get this instantly and some never will.  That is understandable on both ends.  My first best memories of coffee are with my Grandfather.  There is a smell and taste associated with percolated coffee that can instantly take me back to his kitchen table and morning breakfasts.  Those memories are sweet and bright.  They are some of the best of my childhood. 

As an adult I used to drink too much coffee.  I even met with a group of fellow coffee addicts.  We called ourselves the Brotherhood of the Baleful Brewers of the Bitter Black Bean.  Then I stopped for a year.  I drank no coffee at all for a year.  After the sabbatical I was in a diner where the smell of the coffee reminded me of my Grandfather.  I ordered a cup.  It transported me back to the kitchen table on a bright Saturday morning.  At that point in my life I severely needed to be reminded of who I could be as a man.

Since then I allow myself a single cup a day.  Except on Friday I have two at the diner where I have breakfast.  The coffee reminds me of my Grandfather.  I have learned to make good coffee not just caffeinated fuel.  I roast my own beans or choose coffee that is quality. 

We have transmuted coffee into a tapestry of drinks that can be both sublime and confusing.  I occasionally indulge in the hot milkshakes that others refer to as coffee.  My preference will always be simple freshly ground beans and hot water properly brewed.  

I am thankful for this because it is a luxury that I once abused.  I have learned the lessons of excess and recaptured the memory of moderation.  My first sip each morning reminds me of the blessings in my life and the lessons from my Grandfather.  Roasting coffee for others allows me to be an artist in another way.   As I approach the day each morning coffee is my companion in prayer and devotion.  In those first solemn moments of solitude I approach God to give him back my life for the day.  I am always thankful for the coffee.  It reminds me to be thankful for all of the small luxuries that have been given me by God.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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