Published: August 22, 2008 10:06 pm         

God just brews the coffee, not the cup

Inside Out column

An unknown author left me musing over the last few sips of my morning coffee this week. The story, included in a devotional guide, focused on a group of professionals who gathered for a visit with a former university professor.

Each was eager to impress the great educator with how well he or she had put that hard-earned college degree to work.

However, after each had shared bragging rights, the conversation turned to complaints about all the stress, both in their high-falutin’ careers and in their personal lives.

The professor had graciously prepared coffee for the group and had set out a selection of cups. Some were fancy, crafted from porcelain or crystal. Others were made of plastic or glass.

After he had listened a while to the litany of complaints, the old professor paused and began to speak slowly.

“I want each of you to look at the cup in your hand,” he began softly. “I noticed all the nice-looking expensive cups were taken up by those of you who were first in line. I can tell from the cups in your hands which of you trailed in dead last.”

It was true. The people with the plastic cups looked up at the professor with wrinkled brows. What kind of new lesson was the old teacher about to present?

“Although it’s normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the very source of your problems and stress,” the gentle teacher said.

“Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups — and then you began eyeing one another’s cups.”

Without realizing it, the college friends had, indeed, been engaged in a mental competition with one another, pondering which of them had made the best life choices.

The professor interrupted their thoughts.

“Now consider this,” he said. “Life is the coffee. The jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup should not be used to define the quality of life we live. God brews the coffee, not the cups.”

I let that thought simmer in my soul for a moment, swilled the last gulp of my lukewarm brew and breathed a prayer that God will help me focus more on the coffee, not the cup.

— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com