It’s the last Memo of 2014. I was deciding whether to talk about the year that has past or the year that is upon us; Tuesday was my last full day in the office in 2014, when something of an omen for the direction of this memo revealed itself. I was rearranging some books on my shelf thinking maybe I should start the New Year by making my office look a little neater when…I bumped my coffee mug off the shelf and chipped it.
Now this is no ordinary coffee mug. I’ve told several of you about it; someone in my very first church gave this coffee mug to me as a Christmas gift in 1984. It has survived for 30 years and I’ve used it most days I’ve been in my office. I think the handle where I’ve held it and the rim from which I have drunk have conformed to my grip and lips. It has held some very good coffee and some very bad coffee, I’ve eaten soup out of it, drank just about everything you can imagine I’d have in my office to drink out of it. I’ve even served communion using it. And now, now it has been rendered unusable, another relic to sit on my shelf and admire.
I feel a bit silly, that I see this broken coffee mug as some sort of loss when there are plenty more important things to grieve in my life and in our world today, but I do. Sometimes these sorts of things draw our attention to what is important. You see as mundane as it may sound; I’m concerned that I am going to have to decide which coffee cup will now take the place of my old, comfortable, form fitting, my name on the side of it so everyone knows it’s mine…coffee cup. And I’m going to have to do that starting the first day back in the office in 2015.
This got me to thinking of course of the other things that have been chipped or that I have discovered are broken or that are no longer useable within me that I need to leave behind in 2014. Some of these are much harder to let go of, there are a lot of things I’m trying to hold onto, and like my chipped cup… they could still work…for a while. But sooner or later I’m going to forget about that chip and I’m going to cut my lip on it. Maybe it would last another year before it started to crack down the side and leak but I doubt it, the chip is more than Rick can glue back on.
So I’m letting my mug of 30 years go and along with it I hope a few other things that have served me very well. The only option I can think of is to quit drinking coffee. And even though that may be a choice many would advise, I’m going to take it one thing at time. I’ve already chosen a replacement, which is itself a story for another day.
Happy New Year!
Pastor Dan
Now this is no ordinary coffee mug. I’ve told several of you about it; someone in my very first church gave this coffee mug to me as a Christmas gift in 1984. It has survived for 30 years and I’ve used it most days I’ve been in my office. I think the handle where I’ve held it and the rim from which I have drunk have conformed to my grip and lips. It has held some very good coffee and some very bad coffee, I’ve eaten soup out of it, drank just about everything you can imagine I’d have in my office to drink out of it. I’ve even served communion using it. And now, now it has been rendered unusable, another relic to sit on my shelf and admire.
I feel a bit silly, that I see this broken coffee mug as some sort of loss when there are plenty more important things to grieve in my life and in our world today, but I do. Sometimes these sorts of things draw our attention to what is important. You see as mundane as it may sound; I’m concerned that I am going to have to decide which coffee cup will now take the place of my old, comfortable, form fitting, my name on the side of it so everyone knows it’s mine…coffee cup. And I’m going to have to do that starting the first day back in the office in 2015.
This got me to thinking of course of the other things that have been chipped or that I have discovered are broken or that are no longer useable within me that I need to leave behind in 2014. Some of these are much harder to let go of, there are a lot of things I’m trying to hold onto, and like my chipped cup… they could still work…for a while. But sooner or later I’m going to forget about that chip and I’m going to cut my lip on it. Maybe it would last another year before it started to crack down the side and leak but I doubt it, the chip is more than Rick can glue back on.
So I’m letting my mug of 30 years go and along with it I hope a few other things that have served me very well. The only option I can think of is to quit drinking coffee. And even though that may be a choice many would advise, I’m going to take it one thing at time. I’ve already chosen a replacement, which is itself a story for another day.
Happy New Year!
Pastor Dan
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