So Much Love In The Club

It was an identity crisis--were we baristas or...something else?  We weren't sure, so she cried out in a half-joking way, "Is there anyone here who can tell me what coffee is all about?"

And in classic Linus fashion, the answer came: "Sure, I can tell you what coffee is all about:  It's about love."

You may think I'm crazy for saying that, but hear me out.

Coffee is all about the people--the people who grow coffee, the people who harvest it, the people who sell it, the people who buy it, the people who roast it, the people who brew it, the people who drink it, and all the people in-between. 

In my time as a barista,  I've known some that truly warmed me inside and out with their funky, hearty characters--and that goes for both people and coffees!

 New crops of new coffees came in every few months, and so, it seemed, did new people.  We once built a graveyard display for Halloween of all the coffees we'd loved that never returned to satisfy our longing taste buds.  I never saw many of those coffees again, but new coffees came along to expand my palate, to teach me to experience coffee in new ways.  Similarly, I never see some of the people who built that display with me anymore, but new people came along to expand my heart, to teach me to love in new ways.

Today is National Coffee Day, and this week marks four and a half years of me making coffee from this coffee company.  A LOT has changed in that time--people, coffees, structures, machines, uniforms, products, policies, I got married, etc., but this week I returned back to the basics:  no more orders and schedules, I'm just making coffee.

To make this move,  I had to say goodbye to some people who I've grown close to, but that is nothing new to me.  It seems that in the last 13 months especially, I've said goodbye to so many.  I miss them all in different ways, but I'm a better person for having known each of them, and they each hold a special place in my heart.  

All of these people have come to me because of coffee.  We became a family of co-workers, of customers, a community who shared more than cups of coffee, but cups overflowing with love.

I've said this before and I'll say it again:

Every cup is a communion.

To all the generations of my dear barista family and all the customer-friends we've collected over the years:

I always believed but I never really knew until I met you that coffee really is all about love.  Thank you for filling my heart and my cup.

Just a few generations of coffee-family. #somuchloveintheclub

Labor of Love

"Work without love is slavery," said Blessed Mother Teresa.

That's a deep thought, one I've personally pondered for quite some time.  I aspire to work only with love, to break the chains that bind me, but it's so easy to get caught up in the motions, the annoyances, the things I can't control, the drama and nonsense of business politics.  Quite often, I am enslaved.

It's pathetic, really.

So I was really happy when I found this prayer in my Magnificat the other day, and I kind of wish I had had it years ago.  It's completely perfect, and I figured that it would be good to share on Labor Day for all you who labor.  Let's all ask God for the grace to labor with love.

Litany to Sanctify Work

     R. Lord, protect me.
From the temptation to be listless and lazy: R.
From the temptation to complain: R.
From the temptation to be critical to my boss: R.
From the temptation to cheat or to be dishonest with others: R.
From the temptation to gossip: R.
From the temptation to lateness: R.
From the temptation to waste time: R.
From the temptation to be judgmental of my co-workers: R.
From the temptation to procrastinate: R.
From the temptation to be jealous or envious of others: R.
From the temptation to indolence and lethargy: R.
From the temptation to be hyper-critical: R.
From the temptation to engage in idle-conversation: R.
From the temptation to be quick to take offense: R.
From the temptation to shift my work onto others: R.
From the temptation to impatience: R.
From the temptation to cut corners or to be sloppy: R.
From the temptation to give in to weariness: R.

     R. Lord, please grant it.
For the grace to be a peacemaker: R.
For the grace to witness to you by word and example: R.
For the grace to be energetic and committed: R.
For the grace to take initiative: R.
For the grace to be compassionate and forgiving: R.
For the grace to offer up all tedium and drudgery: R.
For the grace to be attentive to those in need: R.
For the grace to be generous in sharing: R.
For the grace to be prudent in dealing with others: R.
For the grace to be kind: R.
For the grace to be understanding: R.
For the grace to fulfill my responsibilities well: R.
For the grace to be patient and persevering: R.
For the grace to put myself in others' shoes: R.
For the grace to be dedicated and undistracted: R.
For the grace to be honest and forthright: R.
For the grace to be hardworking: R.
For the grace to be free of stress: R.
For the grace of insight to solve problems: R.
For the grace of industriousness: R.
For the grace to resolve conflicts and difficulties: R.
For the grace to put up with hardships: R.
For the grace to esteem the dignity of my co-workers: R.
For the grace to be thankful for the chance to work: R.
For the grace to spread the Good News of the Gospel: R.

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)