To the Coffee House!

I was reading this book (at the left) that one of my sisters gave to me years ago, and I must confess that I have never read it until the other day! It is actually a cookbook, but it also has a great history of coffee and all kinds of coffee info in the beginning of the book. I read it in one sitting and really learned more than just a bit about coffee and why I have always loved coffee houses!! They are not a very new idea, which warms my heart!!

There is a poem on page 10 that is titled… To the Coffee House. I will print it here in a minute… But it reminded me of the coffee house I always went to in College in Lincoln, Nebraska, called The Mill. I suppose it had much to do with that time in my life… but I loved this coffee house for many of the reasons the following poem mentions, and more! It was at The Mill that I learned to sit for hours with friends and solve the world’s problems, take on a week’s worth of homework in one sitting, pour out my heart to the one I loved at the time, and it was at the Mill that I learned to love coffee. You could get a cup of coffee for a dollar and then refill it for free once, then any refill after that was a quarter that you just threw in a jar!! To date myself, this was before lattes were so popular and I was in college (1991-ish), so the cup of coffee with free refills was the economical thing to do! Besides you always had that bar where you could put anything from half-n-half to cinnamon and chocolate, etc. in your coffee… so who needed a latte??

I will never forget when I actually got into drinking the coffee… I was at the bar, loading up my coffee with everything the bar had to offer, it was free, remember??… and the man behind me, who was waiting patiently, kinda smiled and said to me, “You don’t really like coffee, do you??” This fully made me laugh and I have never forgotten it. I guess I always wanted coffee to taste like Coffee Nips candy. When I tried my mother’s coffee growing up, after tasting a Coffee Nip… it was just not the same… So in college, when I realized I could make it taste like that… I was all over it!!

Okay, so on to the poem…. Here it is and basically it says it all…

To The Coffee House

When you are worried, have trouble of one sort or another -to the coffee house!

When she did not keep her appointment, for one reason or another – to the coffee house!

When your shoes are torn and dilapidated – coffee house!

When your income is four hundred crowns and you spend five hundred – coffee house!

You are a chair warmer in the office, while your ambition led you to to seek professional honors – coffee house!

You could not not find a mate to suit you- coffee house!

You feel like committing suicide – coffee house!

You hate and despise human beings, and at the same time you cannot be happy without them – coffee house!

You compose a poem which you can not inflict upon friends that you meet in the street – coffee house!

When your coal scuttle is empty, and your gas ration exhausted – coffee house!

When you are locked out and haven’t the money to pay for unlocking the house door – coffee house!

When you acquire a new flame, and intend provoking the old one, you take the new one to the old one’s – coffee house!

When you feel like hiding, you dive into a – coffee house!

When you want to be seen in a new suit – coffee house!

When you can not get anything on trust anywhere else – coffee house!

Viennese poet Peter Altenberg, quoted in All About Coffee, 1922, by William H. Ukers

Coffee House,Coffee,Altenburg,Starbucks

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

This post is a little late… because Love Wins, and we have already celebrated the Resurrection!! But, it is such a beautiful Hymn, I wanted to share it anyway! It is appropriate for Good Friday, but every day is a Good Friday when we think of His awesome love and sacrifice for our Salvation!!!

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

O sacred head, now wounded, With grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded With thorns, your only crown.
O sacred head, what glory And bliss did once combine;
Though now despised and gory, I joy to call you mine!

How pale you are with anguish, With sore abuse and scorn!
Your face, your eyes now languish, Which once were bright as morn.
Now from your cheeks has vanished Their color once so fair;
From loving lips is banished The splendor that was there.

All this for my transgression, My wayward soul to win;
This torment of your Passion, To set me free from sin.
I cast myself before you, Your wrath my rightful lot;
Have mercy, I implore you, O Lord, condemn me not!

Here will I stand beside you, Your death for me my plea;
Let all the world deride you, I clasp you close to me.
My awe cannot be spoken, To see you crucified;
But in your body broken, Redeemed, I safely hide!

What language can I borrow To thank you, dearest friend,
For this your dying sorrow, Your mercy without end?
Bind me to you forever, Give courage from above;
Let not my weakness sever Your bond of lasting love.

Lord, be my consolation, My constant source of cheer;
Remind me of your Passion, My shield when death is near.
I look in faith, believing That you have died for me;
Your cross and crown receiving, I live eternally.


Text: attr. Bernard of Clairvaux, 1091-1153; Paul Gerhardt, 1607-76

Good Friday Easter

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

I wanted to share a prayer from St.Patrick that we went over in my Wednesday night home group and a friend from Costa Rica just sent it to me as well… be blessed!!I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

St. Patrick (ca. 377)

St. Patrick’s Day

A Poem by George MacDonald that Challenges Me

“I said, “Let me walk in the field”;
God said, “No, walk in the town”;
I said, “There are no flowers there”;
He said, “No flowers, but a crown”;

I said, “But the sky is black,
There is nothing but noise and din”;
But He wept as He sent me back,
“There is more, ” He said, “there is sin”

I said, “But the air is thick,
And smog is veiling the sun”;
He answered, “Yet souls are sick,
And your work is yet undone.”

I said, “I will miss the light,
And friends will miss me, they say”;
He answered, “Choose tonight,
If I am to miss you, or they.”

I pleaded for time to be given;
He said, “Is it hard to decide?
It will not seem hard in Heaven
To have followed the steps of your Guide.”

I cast one look at the field,
Then set my face to the town;
He said, “My child, do you yield?
Will you leave the flowers for the crown?”

Then into His hand went mine,
And into my heart came He;
And I walk in a light Divine,
The path I had feared to see.

Safe Red Distance Meets Faith

Will you care for me if I reach out?
Isn’t love what it’s really all about?
Safe and warm an abode of the heart
SAFE

A parade of masks dancing in her head
Multicolored, with eyes to see, though red
Red with tears longing for another
RED

Swimming in tears, is there life beyond?
Rowing from shore, where’s that still pond?
Distance is tiring between retreats
DISTANCE

Impossibilities abound, closeness being one
Desiring coolness, enduring heat from the sun
Meets many, coming full circle with none
MEETS

Dive down deep and hold your breath
A possible connection will come before death
Faith figures out the confusions of the mind
FAITH