The priest was listing the things, he believes, that annoy God. There were the usual litany of sins: greed, selfishness, taking creation for granted, and then he let the big one out of the bag.
God hates instant coffee! Suddenly he had my full attention. "Instant coffee," the priest proclaimed, "is a sure sign of the downfall of civilization. It is the poster child for instant gratification, Instant coffee personifies our desire to find a short cut to reward that skips over grit and determination."
As humans, we often try to bypass the preparation, the hard work, and the waiting for something that, in the end, is just a watery substitute for the real thing.
We know that there are no shortcuts in life. We know this deep down in our souls, and yet, we try so hard to take the easy way out. "I'll just cut and paste this report, no one will know the difference." I'm phoning it in, it's not like it really matters."
"Good things come to those who wait."
This statement often annoys me, mostly because despite being an impatient person by nature, I know it is most often true. My real treasures and truest experiences came to me after a period of distress, struggle and more patience than I believed I possessed. There were no shortcuts to bearing a child, losing my job and gaining another, dissolving one relationship and gaining another.
Back to the coffee. I learned to make coffee when I was thirteen, but one of my earliest memories was standing in the kitchen early in the morning watching my Mom fill her Pyrex glass percolator, turn the blue flame up on the burner and set the pot on the stove. I would watch the water slowly come to a boil, reaching the metal basket filled with rich, ground coffee. The water would begin to turn light brown, and then darker as the delicious smell of coffee filled the air.
My coffee maker has a timer that brews a pot for us each morning. As I turn the corner and head towards the kitchen I can smell the enticing aroma, but my favorite time is Saturday, when I turn on the coffee maker and then stand and watch the water in the pot turn from light brown to a deep rich black. There is no substitute for freshly brewed coffee, and no short cuts in life.
Somethings are worth waiting for.
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