Monday, November 16, 2009

Coffee and Angels


One of the first books I ever had recommended to me as an early Christian was Gayle Erwin's The Jesus Style. Since reading it, Gayle's books have been woven into my life in different, various ways. One of the most special has been his book, That Reminds Me of a Story, in which he shares different anecdotes and stories from his rich life. It has become our family's summer "tradition" to spend some mornings on our upper deck enjoying the beautiful view (see photos from our deck), sip coffee and hot chocolate, and read stories from Gayle's book.

I recently was able to find a copy of Gayle's second book of stories, That Reminds Me of Another Story . . . I have enjoyed what I have read so far a lot. Some of his stories are more serious than others, but all touch or speak to me in different ways. I contacted Gayle yesterday through his web site Servant Quarters (http://www.servant.org/) and asked his permission to share a few of the accounts. He graciously granted me that privilege and I will share the first below. I think, if you know me, or simply knowing the title of my blog, you will understand why I enjoyed this so much . . .

Coffee and Angels
At my first pastorate, an elderly, retired preacher served as one of my favorite people and staunchest supporters. His background in the denomination of his past was highly legalistic. They had preached against coffee, doctors and just about anything else. However, this brother was a few steps beyond that because of his gentle spirit and relationship with God.
He told me that he preached against drinking coffee (an official position of his denomination) until one night he dreamed of dying and going to Heaven. He described it as incredibly beautiful with angles walking around everywhere. He said that every angel he saw had a cup of coffee in his hand. After that, he never preached against coffee.


So, for those of you readers who love the Lord and who I will never meet or share a cup of coffee with on this side of the grave, there is now strong evidence that we can share some heavenly brew on the other, and I am looking forward to that time ahead with you!

The only problem with Gayle's story is the deep theological questions that it raises—in heaven do they drink decaf or regular?, Columbian or French Roast or another?, drip or perculated or French Pressed? straight coffee or some foo foo drink? In heaven, do you get a free cup after you've had 10,000? Do they have free wireless access, or are laptops banned in deference to the old school coffee house lovers who don't like being surrounded by them? Are there free refills? Do they care how long you sit? What will Abraham and Moses and Noah and Peter be drinking? Will they think less of me if I don't drink it black?

As the bank robber said in Dirty Harry, "I gots to know!" If coffee doesn't keep you awake at night, I am sure these questions will :) At least we do know this, the coffee shops there will be "non smoking," and they are sure to have quite a view! God bless you all. Love ya!

5 comments:

  1. My "I'm thankful for" post on Facebook today was:
    "Today I am thankful for lots of laughter in my life."
    So your blog post was very timely! I wonder though, since smoking also doesn't keep you out of heaven, might there be an angel or two walking around with a Marlboro? (Don't worry -- I'm still smokefree! A little over 2 years now-- YAY!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Feedback on all your new widgets and gidgets and such: I don't like the "You may also like" feature. I don't like the WowZio Tag feature. Both seem not specific enough.
    Also, I am "old school" and can't handle too much going on at once. (At least they don't flash and wiggle at me -- I hate those!)

    I do like the Recent Comments and the Whose Visiting features.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, Amy! Thanks for the comments and feedback. I am glad that it made you laugh and brought you joy. The "smoking" reference was more toward the bumper sticker, "Eternity. Smoking or non-smoking?" I am going to leave the widgets on for another week or so. They are supposed to "train" themselves to better make suggestions. I was hoping they might help people find older posts that were similar that they wouldn't necessarily find. I really like the "Recent Comments" and "Whose Visiting" as well. God bless you, "Medford". We miss you down here!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Medford, OR, here; just arrived from Facebook. Scotty beamed me over.

    Yeah, I've seen that bumper sticker too. Figured that's what you meant, but because of the blog content and people's condemnation of smokers, I couldn't resist.

    By the way, with all the coffee you drink, how do you keep your teeth so white?

    ReplyDelete

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