Coffee

 

Coffee - Link to podcast

Sharing coffee or a meal with people seems to produce the environment for good conversation.  So coffee is very important to me.  It even made it on my medical chart in a recent visit to hospital!  

  

 

If I have had a cup of coffee twice a day since I was 20 that is over 27 thousand coffees.  Now I do drink other stuff like water, ginger beer and milk, but coffee is probably my main drink of choice. I’m actually a bit of a coffee snob and I estimate around 20% of the coffees I drink are not actually that good.  But I drink them anyway and I’m not sure why? 

Is it the health benefits? Apparently coffee is packed with antioxidants and vitamins such as riboflavin, magnesium, and potassium, it can help to lessen depression, promote a healthy heart, and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and is really quite good for your liver. 

I also like the smell and the feel of a warm drink on a cold morning.  There is something comforting about having a cup of coffee.

Then there is the social benefits.  I drink coffee every morning with the lovely Sue and we chat about our day.  It’s a bit of a routine and helps us feel connected and calm.   I get a coffee at work and chat with colleagues about the day or how they are going.  I meet up with friends at a trendy café and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and the idea that I part of the cool set and am somehow offsetting my natural goofyness by simply buying a drink at the right place. 

I was recently in hospital with my pacemaker playing up a bit and the nurses asked me to answer questions for their chart on the wall of my room and one question was “what is important to you” and I said “coffee” so they wrote it down.

So why is coffee such a big deal?  Habit?  Culturally acceptable way to make a time for a catch up?   I never make a time to catch up with a friend or colleague and meet in a park or a library without some sort of beverage.  Does it represent some sort of deep need we have?

Well when a terrible storm devastated a suburb of Brisbane called The Gap, the salvos organized coffee vans to arrive in neighborhoods and give out free coffees.  People hugged and cried and shared over these coffees and it was a brilliant way to bring people together for support at this time.  Ever since then I have always had a coffee van as part of my work with the salvos.  At the government housing estate in Villawood we set it up once a week on the road and would meet up with everyone from the neighborhood as a result.

There’s something about sharing a drink or food that creates community better than anything else.  It is a safe and generous space and often people pay for each other or share a piece of cake and if feels like family. 

Mike Frost wrote a book called ‘Surprise The World’ a book about how to authentically engage as people of faith in this world and a part of this was to eat or drink three times a week with someone quite intentionally.  To invite people into that space where conversation often happens at a much deeper level. 

I really like that idea.  In fact someone once had a go at me saying “All you ever seem to be doing is drinking coffee with people and playing ping pong”  I’ll take that as a compliment as my work as a Salvo is all about embracing people and enjoying them authentically and regularly. 

When I left Villawood Salvos I was presented with a certificate from one of the residents.  It was hand written on a colorful kids award poster and it said.  Merit Certificate.  Presented to Bryce Davies for generally being here and helping Villawood Residents.  I was at Villawood for two years and I drank coffee from the van sitting by the side of the road, I drank coffee in people’s homes and at the hub where we gathered and I took people to maccas or the local café and drank coffee there too.  The antioxidants were helpful I guess, but the real benefit was in the conversations and the trust that ensued. 

 

Bless ya.