Drinking a Bitter Cup
But Jesus answered by saying to them, "You don't know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?" "Oh yes," they replied, "we are able!"
I was never much of a coffee drinker in my 20's and 30's. Beer is another story. Despite times of abstinence from alcohol for periods of time, for various reasons, coffee is a fairly late development in my beverage agenda. Now, coffee in the a.m. daily, beer or other spirits, generally only on the weekend. So, I drink much more coffee weekly than alcohol. Don't want to become a barfly. But even my coffee drinking is generally moderate: 6 ounces or so daily but strong.
I had purchased some Starbucks Christmas Blend on my way out to Pittsburgh a couple of week ago over Thanksgiving and have been drinking it down. But, I have come to the conclusion that it is much too bitter and burnt for me. My progression from crap coffee, to Starbucks, to better blends and roasts, is not that unusual. Apparently, burning the beans hides bad quality and poor flavor, creating a general consistency. Call it Starbucks scorched earth policy. Now, Starbucks is cranking down the dial on burnt with other roasting styles, yet it is still know for its distinctive carbon vibe. Like coal coffee. Put some of this coffee in someone's stocking who has been naughty.
This week at work I had angina-like symptoms with my heart. The week was no more stressful than usual. My diet has been the same. The only thing I could figure out that had changed was my coffee: From organic fair trade Ethiopian with a medium roast, to the Starbucks Christmas Blend. So, I switched back to the Ethiopian which I bought at Square One here in Lancaster, Pa. My heart thanked me, as well as my taste buds. So much better in so many ways. Not acidic, sweet.
With yesterday's massacre of children and their educators in Connecticut, our nation is facing a bitter cup to drink. The personal losses of the parents, siblings, families, and school/community are unfathomable. A bitterness that burns through the bones to the soul. A kid who grows up in the community and who had attended the elementary school becomes a murderous monster. His mom--a teacher at the school, had oddly bought the guns. There is a back-story there for certain. A gun toting primary female school teacher is really not normative.
I know making the transition from bitter coffee to diabolical mayhem is quite in danger of being trite but I think we are burning the cultural beans of our society and the flavor is becoming darker and darker. There is no one explanation for it....oh, actually there is. SIN. Kids, and all of us, are being raised in a culture where illicit sex and violence are entertainment and their consciences drink evil for enjoyment and we wonder why these events keep exploding. The video game industry, movies, Darwinian scientism, family schism, right-wing rancorous radio, leftist hegemony of education, lack of sensible gun control, moral relativism, our nation's proclivity to use the military to blanket the world in bombs, etc., etc., etc, are all to blame. Individuals still make choices but sick people play the cards that are available.
We are brewing bitter trouble and the time has come to drink it. Christ has already taken the cup...we should really not be asking for it back.
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