Those who spoke latin had no idea what it was.  This, coupled with their lack of technology and the general cruelties of the Roman Empire made this truly one of the saddest times in human history.

Coffee.

Just the sound of it gives me goose bumps.  OK, that’s not true.  But I do like coffee, maybe a little too much.  You may ask, “what do you like about coffee?”  I like the variety of flavors, colors, almost textures that coffee comes in.  I like the smell of coffee right after it has been ground and right after it has been brewed.  I like that it warms me on a cold winter’s morning.  I like the camaraderie that I feel as we gather around our coffee at the table or at church.  Do you know what I like the most about coffee?  More than taste and smell, because I’ll still drink coffee that tastes and smells awful.  More than friendship or fellowship, for I often drink it alone.  More than warmth, the stone cold dregs of my cup are consumed with nearly the relish of the first scalding sips.  Nay, there is a deeper impetus to this daily ritual.

WAKE ME UP!!!!!

My natural tendency is to remain lethargic, complacent toward my day.  “Que sera, sera,”  I would butcher grammatically along with Doris, and possibly care even less that I said it wrong.  I lean toward seeing what happens with my life, letting circumstance and “fate” hold the reins.  Coffee changes all that.  It puts me in the mood, through the stimulus of both caffeine and sugar, to grab the reins, see what I can do.  With it, I will charge into the moments and let my voice be heard.  I’ve become dependent on it to make me who God wants me to be regardless of what I ingest.

I was not put on this earth to let others rule.  I was not given life to squander it on someone else’s dream.  I certainly was not put on this planet to waste this gift on sin and self-gratification.

I exist because God wanted me to live.  I was redeemed by Jesus blood and sacrifice because He wanted me to live.  “I  came that they may have life and have it abundantly,” is how Jesus said it.  He wants us to, “break down strongholds,” and wrestle with rulers and authorities, against cosmic powers over this present darkness and the spiritual forces of evil.”  He wants me to write, to speak, to sing, to pray, to study and train for we are at war.  I need to be awake, to be alive, to stand for mine is a life of destiny.

Coffee just helps me to move in the right direction.