New Moon Coffee

A challenge when one wakes up at 0300 is that in the event one wants coffee AND in the event there is not enough coffee ground, one has to grind more. If one has multiple family members asleep AND wants them to stay asleep, this becomes a bit more difficult.

No problem, said the (twice) educated college graduate. I'll just take the coffee, the grinder, and the container and take them out to the front porch. There's a plug out there. I'll grind it up, bring it back in, and brew away. None (but possibly the dog) will be the wiser.

So, armed with my three items in two hands, out I went onto the now-lighted porch to grind my coffee. It was a bit cool, but not overly much, so I bent down and started grinding away, chuckling to myself about my ingenuity.

And then I looked up.

The early morning sky was pierced with light from the new moon. Venus sat off to the lower right, twinkling away, while the stars played a pale myriad of softer light.

I sat for a moment staring, ingenuity and coffee forgotten, looking up over the natural beauty which persisted above the row of houses and the highway noise. How I have missed the moon, having no early morning commute anymore and therefore no reason to see it in the morning.

I went back into the house subdued and started my coffee. An idea tugged at my head - initially I disregarded it (it was a bit cold outside), but finally took hold. And so, snug in my "Grumpy" sweatshirt and with newly brewed coffee in hand, I went out on the porch to have a moon viewing.

I just sat, the warmth of the coffee in my hand and steam of the coffee curling around my noise, staring at the silent moon and Venus floating in the sky. To my surprise, as I stared at the moon, I heard the whale-like song of sparrows singing away (at this time of the morning!) rising above the dull roar of the highway traffic behind me. The moon hovered, Venus twinkled, the sparrows chattered, the coffee steamed, and I just sat in awe. All of this, all that I was enjoying in the morning, was the gift of a good and gracious God, a God who created and sustained all that I was seeing - and its cost to me was a cup of coffee.

That, and getting my eyes off myself and my cleverness for a little while.