The next stop on our coffee tour was The Lucky Goat. Walking into The Lucky Goat was like stepping into a cave with a rich aroma of coffee. The establishment was decorated in black with gold accents. This was the first coffee shop that we visited that was so “branded.” All over the place you could see frolicking, leaping and dancing gold goats, on the walls, t-shirts, hats, stickers, pins, cups. It was like when you get off a ride at Disney and end up in the theme shop.

On this coffee adventures there were two sisters, not by blood, but by love. One of these sisters is a contemplator, a questioner, and a researcher so she took her time perusing the menu and chatting it up with the barista. Then there is me who filled her arms to the brim with bags of coffee, pins and paraphernalia. I ordered my boring old standby, following my own arbitrary rule for caffeine after noon. Decaf latte please! Later on this trip, as vacation time really set in, I happily leaped over my personal rule of no caffeine after the twelve o’clock hour, only to be thwarted and reined in by my coffee companion. I was snapping pictures like a photog paparazzi when I blurted out to the barista, “So what’s a lucky goat?” She said, “Oh, a goat found coffee, I think, or something like that.” And thus began the deep dive into google and all tales of the dancing goats and the monk’s answer to staying awake during prayer.

This tidbit of new information for me and my coffee compadre tipped our adventure in a new direction. We sought to learn more about this dear bean we crush, wash, roast and drink. More of our learnings later, it’s time to tell you about the brew:

My BFFA ordered a small mocha latte. Her words “It’s smooth and not too sweet.”

Me: I ordered a small decaf drip. I declared it “smooth and balanced.”

The verdict: 4 beans

The Lucky Goat

1307 North Monroe Street,
Tallahassee, FL 32301

There is a phrase in our house that many of you have probably also used this year, “Due to Covid…” It has become a running joke in our house used from everything to “the shipment will be late due to Covid” to “the hot water is luke warm due to Covid.” Well, due to Covid many of the plans I had for 2020 were cancelled. I like making plans early so I have something in the future to anticipate. I love my job but it can be exhausting and all consuming, so I plan adventures for every quarter of the year. But this years all of those quarters were refunded.

So when God popped a new opportunity into my lap, I grabbed my keys and took off. A friend is moving her mother North from Florida, after a cancer diagnosis, and needed someone to drive a car and some belongings. 1275 miles later, my Best Friend A (here forth abbreviated BFA) visited 16 coffee shops in 5 states over 6 days and brought home over 30 bags of coffee.

As with any adventure, we learned a lot about coffee, about each other, and “due to Covid” we had a few detours. But, I can honestly say it was one of the best adventures I have had in years, maybe it’s due to Covid because getting out of the house was uber appreciated, maybe it’s due to having so much quality time with my BFA, or maybe it’s due to that cup of Cuban coffee at our first stop. I have to think it was also God reminding me to take time to smell the coffee beans.

Tom’s Cuban Coffe to Go

This might look like just an ordinary cup of coffee, but don’t let the picture deceive you, this is heaven in a cup. This cup of cafe con leche (Cuban Coffee with Milk and sugar) became the cup by which all other coffees were measured. When the gps led us to Tom’s we thought we had arrived in the wrong place, because it was at an Exxon gas station. When you google “coffee nearby” all sorts of sub par coffee cup images will show up on the tiny map on the phone.

But, we ventured forth and as we pulled open the door, the smell of coffee and the sound of Spanish words filled our senses. This place was no fuss. The sign says Tom’s to go and they know their customers are in a hurry. I made my choice quickly and a small styrofoam (we will forgive them) cup of steaming coffee was handed over to me along with a freshly made bacon, egg and cheese empanada. Friends, the delight of the coffee and food in my mouth is what makes this country great! I’ve never been to Cuba, but I got to taste some of their culture and it was fabulous. My BFA said “Amazing!” In fact for the rest of our coffee adventure every time her caffeinated lips uttered, “Amazing!” over a new cup of coffee, I said, “As amazing as Tom’s?” Nothing ever was…but we still had many great cups of coffee. My response to my dear cup of cafe con leche, was, “It’s like a little man is holding my eye lids open.” Yes, Cuban coffee has a powerful punch, but the sweetened milk gives it balance so it is a smooth cup of love. I like to think that is who I am, strong and bold, with a dash of sweet and smooth.

How shall we rate the cups of coffee on our coffee adventure? By the beans of course.

Tom’s Cuban Coffee to Go 1800 SW Highway 484 Ocala, FL 34473

With the news of the murders at the Tree of Life in Pittsburgh my heart has broken more, which I thought wasn’t possible. I have found myself turning off the news or turning down the sound when announcers start telling the story of those who died. I know they were human beings. I know they had lives full of love, friends and family. I know their lives mattered in this world, but I can’t get to know them, it hurts too much.

So what do we do? If we each carry only one candle how do we break the darkness of this world? So many people are saying to speak up. Don’t be silent. But I am starting to remember what Thumper rabbit learned from his father, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” It seems that our words are not helping. It seems that even good intentioned people are talking so loudly they can not hear anyone else.

Silence can be deceiving. To some folks it seems as if you are not doing anything. It seems that there is no movement. But to those who see a silent person as still, remember we are human and our minds are full of action. When we take time to be silent we engage our other gifts, listening, seeing, learning, and growing. When we are silent we can listen to the hurts of others, we can see where the needs are, we can learn how to walk in our neighbor’s shoes and we grow in our knowledge and understanding. Practicing silence is exercising other gifts So this week, in the midst of the darkness I am practicing silence. I am looking for where I can be a helper.

I have listened deeply and I believe I am being called to hold a candle in silence. I will hold your hand, I will pray with you, I will support you. But my support may not be loud, it may not be as visible as you would like, it might be not be as active as your expected. Don’t mistake my silence for apathy. My love is as deep as the roots of a tree. In the roots you will find great strength.

I will hold my candle and offer you light in the darkness to light your candle again. That is how hope is passed. That is my gift to find hope just when you thought it was lost.

Today, a fragment of a story showed up. Does this happen to you? What if there was a young girl who was born in a time where she couldn’t do what her heart desired. She lived her life as expected. She always met expectations but her heart soared higher than her community could see. This young girl grew into a proper woman, the men would tip their hats to her, the ladies would smile because she looked normal. But inside her imaginary world there were ideas that would transform the world. The odd thing is that these ideas were not mere flights of fancy. This young girl who became a mother was a prophet.

Maybe it was in some dna transfer or gene memory, maybe it was nurture, maybe it was experience but the daughter made her mothers dream a reality. The expectations of the culture had changed, the audience was ready for these ideas that would transform the world. But this daughter also had dreams that her mother had not imagined. The world was not ready for these thoughts. The time was not right. She lived a remarkable life balancing between the reality that was forced upon her and the imagination that pushed her beyond the ordinary. She was a prophet, because her imagination became reality, but not in her time.

There was a woman, who inherited these dreams at the right time. She was the one that could live beyond expectations. She had a freedom that had not been given to her mother and grandmother. She had extraordinary ideas that could revolutionize the world. The time was right but now the barrier was not external like her foremothers had faced, it was internal. She dismissed these ideas because she did not believe in herself.

Will the world be changed by these ideas? Will flights of imagination become reality? Is the world ready for a new direction? Is she ready for the freedom that this generation has given her?

So now, if I can just write 20 chapters or so I might have a book.

 

Once upon a time there was a winter storm. Well, some people called it a storm, others called it a sabbath day. Outside the window of Penny’s house the snow fell. Well, for ordinary folks the snow fell, for Penny the snow was playing a symphony. A million piece orchestra, each with their own special song to play. She was warm and comfy in the window of the second story of a clapboard house on the edge of Land’s End. It is her home.

Penny Whispet is an ordinary girl to most people. She is polite and follows the rules. She always says thank you to her teachers, crossing guards and librarians. She is always in her desk on time and has never missed a day at school. When other students play tricks on the substitute teachers, Penny speaks to the students using their real names, the students don’t notice but the quick witted subs pick up on it quickly.

Around their little village the Whispet’s are thought of fondly. Kind, hard working folks who always help their neighbors and never say a mean word about anyone. Mr. Whispet is a blueprint designer. He can create blueprints for anything you need, a house, a boat, a garden plot. If you have a problem, Mr. Whispet can draw up a plan to fix it. But if you ask Oliver, Mr. Whispet’s five year old neighbor, what the best thing about Mr. Whispet is, it’s that he always has a funny joke to share. Mrs. Whispet is a librarian. Most people would think a librarian to be quiet and shy. Mrs. Whispet has a personality that fills a room. She is like a character from one of the many books she entertains the children with at the weekly Rose Garden Book Club. Rose Whispet makes black and white words on a page come alive.  Some people say she is magical, which is ironic because she is the one in the family who does not possess true magic.

 

If you are using this as part of a devotion, I encourage you to read Exodus 14.

This prayer is based on Psalm 114 for different versions of the Psalm click on this link biblegateway.com

Contemporary English Bible Version of Psalm 114 (from biblegateway.com)

This Sermon was preached at Shiloh United Methodist Church (Montpelier, VA) in March 2017.

Today we are on the fourth week of a sermon series I am calling Salvaged Lives. The root of the word salvaged and the root of the word salvation are, “salvare” which means “to save.”  The noun form of salvage means the “rescue of a disabled ship” but I think it can also mean, “the rescue of a disabled life”

Today, we are going to learn from the life of Esther. At first it may not seem that a Queen has a life that needs to be salvaged. From all outer appearances it would seem that a Queen does not have a disabled life.

But appearances can be deceiving.

Because we can have all the things we have ever dream of, beautiful clothes, soft beds, plenty of food, but if we aren’t living in the middle of God’s will, we are not complete, the things of this world can not bring us the peace our souls long for…so let me tell you Esther’s story…

Esther was beautiful. Her parents had died and so she was raised by her Uncle, Mordecai. Mordecai loved her as a daughter he taught her all the customs and traditions of their Jewish faith. But Mordecai, Esther and all the Jews lived in exile from Jerusalem. They lived under the King Ahasuerus.

Their lives were not easy,

they were poor, oppressed,

taunted and stepped on by the native born people.

One day, the King’s men came to Esther’s village looking for a new queen, they brought her to the palace.

Her kindness touched everyone. 

She was beautiful, but there were many beautiful women in the land. Esther was unique because she was kind and humble. Unlike some of the other beautiful women, Esther appreciated the comforts of the palace, she was the kind of woman who probably noticed the servants and said thank you.

She also won the king’s favor and he chose her to be his queen.

No one in the palace knew that Esther was Jewish, her uncle Mordecai told her to keep that a secret. Mordecai wanted to keep an eye on his daughter and so he got a job at the palace gate. He learned that two disgruntled employees were plotting to kill the king. He told Esther, Esther told the king and he was very appreciative that his life was saved.

Later, the king appointed Haman as his chief aid. Hamas was arrogant but effective. He was boastful and jealous, but not in front of the king. He convinced the king that the Jews were a problem in the kingdom because every day when he passed by Mordecai at the palace gate, Mordecai would not kneel and bow down to Haman. Why?

Because the Jews did not worship people, they only worshiped God. Haman hated this and because he did not understand the Jewish beliefs he was afraid. Because he was afraid Haman wanted the Jews to follow his rules or die. The king allowed Haman to make a decree throughout the whole land that on a certain day all the people would be allowed to kill all the jews and take all of their possessions, a genocide. Mordecai told Esther that she had to talk to the king and get this stopped. But Esther was afraid……

Here we get to the gist of the story…What would you do if you were Esther? If you had finally arrived at a place of comfort and position would you be willing to give it all away and possibly your life to save your people….or what if….

If you finally got that promotion at work that you have worked hard for, sacrificed time with your family for…would you risk it all to tell the boss that his or her decision was wrong?  

If you were riding the metro in Washington D.C., or a train in Portland, OR and you saw some guys bullying a woman wearing a hijab, would you get involved?

Like Esther, I think we would weigh the risk, to our physical selves, we would agonize over what to do… weighing the pluses or minuses, evaluating the threats and the risk. In the end it would come to this question, who are you? For Esther she had to choose if she would tell the king that she was a Jew or if she would stay safe in her identity as Queen.

Where is your identity found? Is it found in your work? in your social position? in your safety? in minding your own business? ….or is it found in Christ?

Would you walk away and stay the same?

Or would you act and take the risk?

Esther sends word to Mordecai, I can’t do it, everyone knows the law can not be changed so it doesn’t matter, there’s nothing I can do, plus you know I can’t go to the king, he has to invite me and I haven’t even seen him in a month so he’s probably not going to call me. I can’t do it,

I’m not the one…. Esther was afraid…can you blame us?/I mean her!

(So often I get the question, how can I be a Christian at work without saying I am, without using the church words? You don’t have to wear your cross outside your shirt to be a Christian, to witness to Christ’s work in the world you don’t have to shout Jesus)

In the whole book of Esther God is never mentioned, but God’s presence is obvious in this Scripture, John Wesley said “the finger of God directs events.” Even though Esther is scared, the finger of God points to her from Mordecai, he tells her that if she does not speak up on behalf of her people, deliverance will come from somewhere else, but,…. what if? what if she was put in this place for just such a moment as this?

When have you been put somewhere to be a vessel of God’s Holy Spirit? When have you felt called to speak up?

Or maybe you were at the right place at the right time to make a difference in someone’s life?

Maybe it was just a moment, a split second, you don’t know what came over you but you knew you had to act…and you did, you stepped “out of your comfort zone to become someone else’s blessing.” (pg. 640 WSB)

I believe it is in these moments that our lives are salvaged, we get so caught up in ourselves, our sin,

their sin,

our judgments,

our anger,  but it is in these moments that the Holy Spirit breaks the record of our wrongs that plays in our heads,

the Holy Spirit bursts into our plain,

ordinary lives and rescues us from ourselves ….sometimes it’s only for a brief moment the Spirit of God points and says,

“You, you are the one to be  a  bearer of blessing to God’s world!!” 

It is in these moments that we get the choice to claim our identity in Christ; we are Christians led to be bold, to be brave, and to be strong, not by our will, but by God’s will. 

   You know I love bumper sticker saying and this one I would give to Esther, “Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says, “Oh no (crap), she’s up!”

Our feet hit the floor each day and it is by God’s grace that we can move past the fear,

beyond the calculations of risk,

away from the negative self talk and into God’s will.

Just like Esther, we may not actually hear the voice of God or touch Jesus,

but we know every day, God is present with us,

we know every day God walks with us,

we know every day God calls us beyond ourselves,

we know every day God calls us to be faithful,

every day, whether we write it on our name tag or not, we are Christians

and every day,

God uses us to be bearers of blessing in God’s kingdom……..

Esther steps up and she saves her people, this ordinary woman from humble beginnings became a queen, but we remember her as an extraordinary savior of her people. This is the finger of God’s grace that comes into our lives and acts and makes us more than we think we can be…not by our will, but by God’s will.

We get the choice. To say yes to God’s will, or we can walk away…

Esther could have walked away but she chose to act. She left her comfort zone and leaped into the arms of God.

Through the power of God, Esther saved many lives… but her life was saved too from the dangers of fear, selfishness, hate and complacency.

What if, we looked at our lives differently?

What if we saw that no matter where we are, we can be God’s blessings? What if every day when our feet hit the floor, we knew that God was going to use us?

How would the world be different if we lived seeking and doing God’s will …not our own?

We can’t imagine the vastness of the answer to that question, but what we do know is this, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” That is the peace our souls long for. Amen

“The people of Israel didn’t remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the power of all their enemies on every side.” Judges 8:34

 CEB Common English Bible with Apocrypha – ePub Edition (Kindle Locations 9133-9134). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.

  The book of Judges is a series of short stories. The Cliff Notes, if you will, of the Israelite people in their new land. We don’t have a lot of information in this series of short accounts. Their brevity helps us see a pattern. The people forget about the LORD. They forget that they are set apart. They forget that they have been delivered from their enemies. Then a judge is raised up and their enemies are vanquished. Then “peace ensues” as Shakespeare said. Then they forget the LORD, again. Why do they forget?   Is it the failure of the parents to teach their history? Is it the failure of the children to listen and take heed? Is it the success of the culture that the Israelites have mixed with steering them away from the Lord? All of these cultures that had different priorities, different rules and lower standards than God’s people.

In my first reading of this book I was a bit judgmental of the Israelites. How could they keep forgetting the Lord? How could they forget all the miracles? The Passover, Yom Kipppur, the Festival of Booths, all of these holy days were supposed to be practiced over and over so the people would not forget all the LORD had done. Of course there is Sabbath too, every week the Israelites are supposed to set aside one day to give to God, to build their faith in community, and to rest. But, things get in the way don’t they? Families move apart, work deadlines loom, household chores need to be completed, sports/movies/social events crowd out our time for God.

In my second reading of Judges, I saw the cycle of addiction that professional counselors talk about. The people love the LORD. Then they start choosing other things, drugs, alcohol, sex, work, food and slowly they push the LORD away. The mantra begins to play in our head, “More of me and less of you Lord” The Israelites are mixed with people who chant that mantra in the streets. Before you know it, mom and dad are sitting at home, waiting for you to come to dinner, waiting to pray and light the Sabbath candles with you, waiting to tell you the stories of who you are and where you came from. But you have forgotten your commitment. Your time has become consumed with the things of this world. The only thing that matters to you is right here, right now.

“They wouldn’t drop their bad practices or hardheaded ways.”

Judges 2:19 CEB

In my second reading of Judges, I pushed my own judgment into the dark corner of my mind and instead, I asked God…

“How could I forget you LORD? Show me what I have replaced you with LORD. Show me where I have forgotten you in my life. Show me where I missed an appointment with you LORD. Help me drop my bad practices and knock me in the head LORD.”

  There is a bad pattern in Judges; Love God, Forget God, Live in misery, God saves us, Live in Peace, Love God, Forget God…. Judges gives us a list of the number years that the people lived in misery and when they lived in peace. Look at the numbers and you will see these were lifetimes. Can you imagine living a lifetime in misery? far away from God? Everything revolving around what you want every moment?  Most of us, if we are lucky, get 80 or more years on this earth. Do you want to spend those years in misery? Living for the moment is good for “A” moment but it is not good for a lifetime. What if we can learn from this bad pattern now? What if we loved God and lived in peace? Then, years from now, when we tell our story, we can tell a story of faith, love, peace and joy rather than being the old guy at the end of the bar droning on and on about the past glory days. If we love God and live in peace now our story will be about the glory days ahead of us in the loving arms of our Savior.

“Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That’s why the Lord your God commands you to keep the Sabbath day.” Deuteronomy 5:15 Common English Bible (CEB)

“When you eat, get full, build nice houses, and settle down, and when your herds and your flocks are growing large, you silver and your gold are multiplying and everything you have is thriving, don’t become arrogant, forgetting the LORD your God.”

Deuteronomy 8:12 (CEB)

“Don’t think to yourself, My own strength and abilities have produced all this prosperity for me. Remember the LORD your God!”

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (CEB)

Good job carrying on Bible Pilgrims! We have entered Deuteronomy, a fun word to say, try it, I’ll wait…. This is not a chronological book, but a repeat, clarification and collection of important lessons from the Israelites journey, “A Greatest Hits” collection if you will.

As I read the “Big Ten” (commandments) again I was struck by a new idea of why the Sabbath is a gift.

  Having the freedom to rest on the Sabbath means we are not slaves to our bosses, to our schedules, to our routines.

This is a profound idea the notion that we have the option to do nothing. It means that every day is not just about how much we can produce. Taking a Sabbath for most of us is a choice and it means that we can cease from our regular routines to admire the work that we have done, to enjoy someone else’s work (like reading a book), and mostly to see all the work that God has done.

A few years ago, I started dabbling in gardening. I say dabbling, because I learned something,

weeds always grow,

they never STOP.

On a perfect weather day, I wanted to be outside. You know the deep blue sky, white puffy clouds, sweet smelling air, perfect kind of temperature day that pulls your body outside. I decided to weed a patch of my flower beds. I toiled for an hour on my knees, tugging and pulling. Of course as I was digging out weeds, I noticed that some plants needed to be relocated, so I gave them the eviction notice and moved them into their new digs. By this time, my back needed a good stretch and as I stood up my noggin hit a tree branch. I grabbed my pruners and started lopping off the low hanging branches.

The work never stopped!

Everywhere I looked there was something that could be done, improved, pruned, weeded. I was tired. It occurred to me that even as I was weeding other weeds were growing behind me in the other flower bed. The notion of how much work to do became OVERWHELMING. The beautiful day ceased for me and became a work day.  My body spoke to me, thankfully interrupting my stressful thoughts, I needed hydration. So, I paused and drank a glass of water on the porch. As I looked up at the trees, I admired the beauty of the Lord’s work. While I was working in my little corner of the world, God was creating all over the world.

What I learned about Sabbath that day was to pause and admire the work I had done so I could feel the pride of accomplishment. But, also to zoom out of my corner and to look at the bigger picture of all the work that God had done. The beauty of trees in bloom, the gentleness of a bad of grass, the smell of dirt. In that moment of Sabbath, I experienced the feeling of  joy in knowing it is all done out of love for us. While I was weeding, the world continued and God was working. While I was sleeping, God was answering someone’s prayer. While I was drinking a glass of water, somewhere rain was making the flowers bloom and more weeds grow.

While I was doing other things, 

God was taking care of ‘all the things!’

Sabbath is about spending time reflecting on how little we are and how big God is.

Moses offers us all a warning; when we have arrived at our intended destination, when we have achieved our goals, when our tummies and bank accounts are full, when our garden is thriving and beautiful, “don’t become arrogant.” Don’t think that we have done all of this work on our own. Sabbath called the Israelites back to Egypt (in their memories) and Sabbath calls us back to the front porch drinking the water God has made and looking at the beauty of God’s creation. This is why I say I dabble in gardening because I do not dare to think “…my own strength and abilities have produced all this prosperity for me.” That day, I chose to stay  on my porch observing Sabbath. I chose to rest from my labors and admire the work of God. The prayer that came to me in that quiet time was simple, “Thank  you Lord that I do not have to prune all the trees in the world.”

We have embarked on Numbers in our Bible Challenge. And Moses and Aaron have a lot of counting to do, people, animals, tents. Maybe this is why this book is called Numbers.

In the midst of all the counting, we read these words, “You will bless the Israelites as follows. Say to them: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his face to you and grant you peace.” (Num 6:23-26) What a nice blessing in the middle of the rules, the laws, and the counting. These words offer love, kindness and peace, in the middle of, well the “busyness” of the Israelites current reality.

The nazarite’s are set apart to serve the Lord. There are a lot of rules for them, from what they eat, to how they dress, to their hairstyle. Some of us might wonder why they would do it? We know what we can not see, we believers know there is a love, a joy, a peace that comes from serving the Lord. When we read between the lines, we can imagine that the nazarite’s are blessed to offer blessings to God’s people.

To be called to share this blessing is special; a command from God. God says, “Use these words to bless my people…”(paraphrase) And I breathe a sigh of relief, in the middle of all the “busyness” of setting up this community of faith, God pauses and tells Moses to make sure Aaron tells the people God loves them. There are a lot of rules to follow. But through them all the people will receive the blessing of God’s face, shining on them, bringing them amazing grace and perfect peace.  We have to look in a mirror to see ourselves, but everyone else sees our face all day long. This blessing means God’s radiance shining on me will be for others to see. Imagine what it would mean if they can see God’s glory on our face? Imagine what it would mean if we carried grace and peace in our pours? Like the nazarite’s we are each blessed to be a blessing to the world.

In the middle of your busy day, who can you share a blessing with?

Can other’s see the glory of the Lord shining upon you?