Re-post and Finale' - Sunday Coffee Cup

The following was the first Sunday Coffee Cup post. I have been considering ending the series (mainly because I have already told all of my mug stories), and it seems fitting that as my sister was the subject of the first post - her passing this past week should be the occasion for my last Sunday Coffee Cup post.


You can read them all here. So, please settle in and enjoy how this all began and know this will be the last weekly post of the Sunday Coffee Cup. I'm sure a significant mug may find it's way into my life and end up here sporadically...however, here's the ending as it was the beginning...

We all have them stashed and stacked in the cabinet. Why do we collect so many coffee mugs and cups? Some are little more than clutter. A plastic memento of a meaningless event or casual encounter with a random company. Yet, for me, what I see when I reach for a Sunday morning cup for my coffee is a cupboard full of significant life moments, memories of time well sent and people kindly known. My Sunday morning coffee cup selection is never really casual. Each time I choose a mug, I'm choosing to remember and reconnect with a segment of my life.

It seems selfish to keep all of these moments to myself, so each Sunday I'll plan on posting a Sunday Coffee Cup photo and story. Enjoy this inaugural post.

My Sister - Burp!

It was Christmas of 1999. I was just months past my departure from the ordained ministry, my spirit and my life still reeling from the trauma of personal burnout. Finances were bottomed out. I was working my first 'sales' job and beginning what would become a new career chapter. It was one of those life moments when all I had of certainty and peace was each emotion filled moment, each small rational choice and a tenuous faith that somehow God would see me through.

The trip to Myrtle Beach, SC for our extended family Christmas gathering was tentative, lacking in joy and confidence. There were to be few gifts given, few life accomplishments to celebrate. Enter my sister.

My sister is, and mostly has been throughout her life, a mess. Sometimes that 'mess' was of the playful, mischievous childhood variety of 'mess.' A mess you find yourself admiring for tenacity, boldness and undaunted determination. Sometimes my sister's 'mess' was more of the personal life catastrophe variety. Bad choices, bad timing, bad comrades and all in the worst possible order. Mt sister was going through a 'mess' of the second variety in 1999. She was, simply put, in worse shape than I was - at least it looked like it from the outside looking in.

That year, my sister took the time and a few of her very limited dollars and bought me a Christmas present. She gave me a perfectly selected mug. When I unwrapped it, the crass imprint on the outside and the playful lettering inside the rim gave me pause. The I felt a giggle forming deep inside, a giggle that begin to bubble up into a joyous laugh.

Now, years and gallons of coffee later, I still cherish this bold, playful, timely and loving gift. It makes my Sunday cup of coffee perfect. Thanks Sis!

NOTE: My sister died 5/12/12. I'll miss her. RIP Pam.

Sunday Coffee Cup - Tallahassee

A few years back, while searching out possible retirement locations, my wife (bless her heart) and I were considering Tallahassee, Florida. Not anymore.

Florida, the often selected retirement destination for northerners who woke up one day from a Winter slumber and realized, “Hey – snow, ice, heating bills and fast paced talking is optional,” was never high on my list of retirement destinations. I’ve enjoyed visiting the glass bottom boats, reptiles shows, Flipper aquariums and sipping “all the orange juice you can drink for a dime,” but always felt that Florida was – well, not really the South.  Let’s face it, you can throw a case of darts in Miami and the closest thing to a Southern you’ll hit is a South American. Don’t get me wrong, I like diversity, but I prefer the slow drawl and sweet tea of a Southern lifestyle.

Enter my wife. Although she’s not a Southerner, she married me and that makes her – well, smart and acceptable. She also grew up (read 'went through adolescence') in Florida (read 'Fort Lauderdale') and to college at Florida State University – which is in Tallahassee – which isn’t really in Florida even though it is the capital of the state. Tallahassee is located in the Florida panhandle and is very close to Georgia and Alabama. My wife suggested that it was a possible retirement location, in Florida, in the South. Today’s Sunday Coffee Cup is a souvenir of our Tallahassee considerations.

Here is what I learned about Tallahassee:

1. It is a great city with lots to do – including worshiping regularly at the Florida State University shrine of Bobby Bowden.
2. Once you leave the city – there is really nothing else. Pine and palm forests, humidity you can bath in, heat that only makes you sweat more, an abundance of biting and stinging insects and pencil thin ‘beaches’ and ocean that looks like the froth of a day old latté.
3. Hiking consists of walking across level ground for miles, dodging spider webs and large spiders between pine trees.
4. The tea isn’t sweet enough.
5. You can’t get anywhere from Tallahassee. You have to go somewhere else first (read off the beaten track).
6. There are some very nice people who live there.

So, I don’t think we will be moving to Tallahassee for retirement. You know the old saying “It’s a great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” Well, the latter is true.

Go Seminoles! Heh.

Sunday Coffee Cup - The Collection

The Fine Art of Coffee Appreciation 

I've been posting the Sunday Coffee Cup reflections for some time now and I'm taking this week off. I'll be back next Sunday with a new mug, new thoughts and a opportunity for you to laugh, cry or both!

In the meantime, see if you have missed any of the past posting. See them all here Sunday Coffee Cup!

Sunday Coffee Cup - Clear Reminder

There aren't many clear glass coffee mugs. Today's Sunday Coffee Cup is the only clear mug we have in the house. It was a gift from some friends who stopped to visit with us on their way back home to Florida. There is some debate (read - my wife and I argue over it) as to if the gift was intentional or not.

The truth (read - my opinion) is that the mug belonged to our traveling friends and they accidentally left it with us. It is an orphaned mug. However, more importantly every time I see it I'm reminded of a more famous clear glass coffee mug - and a brand with a long history.

Remember these? They were the trademarked mugs of Nescafe instant coffee. Below is a flashback look at why this new 'modern' convenience was so popular. Enjoy.

Sunday Coffee Cup – Tropical Reminder

I love the tropics. Give me 90 degree heat and 70% humidity, clear skies, crystal waters to relax in and I’m good – for a very long time. Lucky for my wife, she understands this and when we talk about vacations, the options never include heading north unless it is the peak of summer – and even then – I need a very good reason to not head to an island.

I love places like these: Bermuda, The Virgin Islands, Cozumel Mexico, The Bahamas, The Florida Keys, South Florida and in a pinch, I’ll even settle for the Carolina coast. Today’s Sunday Coffee Cup is for when I’m not at any of those places.

My mother gave us four mugs and matching saucers set for Christmas one year. They’re tropical. They make me smile and remind me of hot sun and bright sand. It isn’t anywhere near like being there, but it serves up a sizable cup of coffee and the occasion to remember and plan for tropical trips...like these.

Bermuda - Marley Beach

Bermuda

Bermuda - Witch's Island

Bermuda

Maho Bay Camps - US Virgin Islands

Cozumel 1976

Ahhhhh.... i remember them all!

Sunday Coffee Cup - Old and Royal

Before the days of Starbucks, when cell phones came with shoulder straps and discount compact disks could be ordered from a foreign land known as Columbia – fine coffee came mail order from Gevalia.

Gevalia (not unlike its beefy cousin Omaha Steaks) was the market leading - direct to your home  -brand for fine coffee. Gevalia’s coffee could be had as a subscription, delivered directly to your door via the convenience and speed of the US postal service. All one had to do was fill out the paper order form, stamp it and mail it in (no pesky internet back in those days) and for those lucky customers who watched the limited special offerings, one could grab a free coffee maker or drink ware set.

Today’s Sunday Coffee Cup is the lone survivor of our Gevalia period. At some point we acquired a set of “limited edition imported fine porcelain mugs.” This one fossil remains, a remnant of Swedish descent bearing the gold seal and commission “”By Appointment to His Majesty The King of Sweden.”

Thus I hoist the standard of the royal coffee of old and hereby proclaim, “Dang! I’m getting old.”

(note: Gevalia appears to still be in the business of delivering coffee and stuff, only now via the web.)

Sunday Coffee Cup - Untouchable Things

There are things that we own that we never use. Some of these things are too small, relics from days when we were leaner, younger. Some of these things are out of date or fashion (I think I still have a pair of platform shoes somewhere - can you say DISCO!?). These are the things  that have outlived their purpose but for some sentimental reason we hold on to them. Then there are those things that are brand spanking new that we haven't gotten around to using, yet: that serving dish that hasn't seen the right party, the winter sweater bought on sale for next year, or the suitcase that hasn't been needed for a trip. Yes, we are people of abundance and guilty of our own share of hoarding and excess. We have many things we don't use.

This morning's Sunday Coffee Cup was one of those things. It is a small, delicate porcelain cup that barely holds 6 ounces of coffee. It has been shuffled around in the cabinet, jostled by the exit and return of more popular cups and mugs. Countless times I have reach for the diminutive vessel and each time have paused and selected another more practical cup - one that would hold a fair portion for a morning jolt of coffee. It just isn't practical. What is more, it isn't very manly. Look at it - all flowery and dainty - daring me to position my fingers in high society posture, pinky extended -  to sip with refined elegance.


Still - time and this dang blog series has worn me down. As I sorted through the available mugs for today, it was one of the last remaining pieces,  un-blogged and unused. With pinky extended and a full 4-5 ounces of heft, I toast to you this day with flowery porcelain. Gawd.

I need more mugs.

Sunday Coffee Cup - Brookgreen Gardens

There is stillness in the marsh as winter begins to yield to the caresses of spring and the low country creatures begin to stir, to tilt sedated attention to the tasks of advancing life. The ancient oaks drip with creativity and Spanish moss. Water runs deep and slow connecting statuary fountains to rice fields. Nowhere am I more at home than in the space of land that rests between the low country swamps and the sand of the shore. No place better represents that ancestral space than Brookgreen Gardens. 

Today’s Sunday Coffee Cup is from my favorite place in South Carolina. Brookgreen Gardens and Huntington Beach State park rest now on what was once the South Carolina plantation home of Anna Hyatt and Archer Milton Huntington. The Huntingtons were amazing artists of word and form.

The Brookgreen Gardens website describes them:  “Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington. The Huntingtons first visited the property in 1929. They were captivated by the Carolina Lowcountry with its undulating rivers and shadowy swamplands, sandy pine forests, sweeping marsh vistas and stately moss-draped oaks. So, the philanthropist and his beloved sculptor wife bought Brookgreen Plantation and the three adjoining properties, amassing 9,127 acres of forest, swamp, rice fields and beachfront.


Originally, their plan was to establish a winter home overlooking the wide, blue Atlantic, but the beauty and history of the land quickly transformed their modest intention into something more grand. In 1931, they organized a non-profit institution with a lofty mission: providing a showcase for American figurative sculpture within a refuge for native plants and animals. A year later, they opened Brookgreen to the public. It is the first sculpture garden in the United States and designated as a National Historic Landmark.”

Brookgreen Gardens - here you will find towering statuary, bold flowers and courageous creatures – all demanding the art from within you. One sip of this place will capture you and I’m sipping the South today and stirring in a spoonful of artistic passion for this Sunday morning.  Care to join me?

Sunday Coffee Cup - My 'Thoughtful' Brother

My family is loving, supportive and deeply interested in my work as a writer and blogger. Case in point.

My brother obviously reads diligently my Sunday Coffee Cup post each week. He is, no doubt, humored, touched and deeply affected by the artistic creativity and intellectual prowess exhibited in each carefully crafted post. I know this, because when we visited this weekend (the first time we have seen each other since before Christmas), he presented me with a gift that is today's Sunday Coffee Cup.

He said he thought I needed it since I was so interested in cups.

Family.

Sunday Coffee Cup – Tennis Anyone?

I don’t play tennis. The last time I tried, I broke a rib (Don’t ask. Although it is an interesting story involving a celebrity or two…anyway). My wife loves tennis. She played tennis for Florida State – back in the day. We had our first ‘date’ at a tennis match (That’s another good story. I pretended to be a doctor. She pretended to be my wife. Wait – that could be a country music song…anyway).

Today’s Sunday Coffee Cup touts the sport of tennis. Someone gave it to my wife. It’s really a pretty ugly mug – #justsaying. Over the years we have, like most folks, culled the coffee mug population in our cupboard. I keep thinking, year after year that this one will be among the chosen, the Tribute (yes, I just made a Hunger Games reference – I’m so ready to see that film) to see the path of a thousand donation deaths. I’ve even thought of taking it to Breakfast of Course (for those Dear Readers that don't know - Breakfast of Course is a local restaurant that was once  "Mary's of Course" and they served breakfast. They still do and they serve you coffee in random, used and often interesting mugs), but I don’t think they would take it.

As coffee mugs go – well, it is one.

Happy Sunday Coffee Mug.

Sunday Coffee Cup - The Wife's Mug

Share and share alike? Ha!

I don’t know about other men, but around my house I do exactly what I want to do (wait for it), just as soon as I find out from my wife what I want to do.

Honestly, my wife runs the home. She always has. I like it that way (repeats to self – “I like it that way”). It works. She has control of the entire house. I get to control the top of my dresser… and the nightstand by my quarter of the bed. Sound fair, doesn’t it? We most things by the proven mantra: “What’s hers is hers and what’s mine is hers too.”
Then there are the coffee mugs (pretty good transition if I do say so myself). I have full run of Sunday Coffee Cup choices. The entirety of the cupboard is my kingdom – except for two specific mugs. Today’s coffee cup is stolen, swiped, hijacked even, from the wife’s forbidden coffee ware.

 So, you can see I’m living on the edge today, taking a walk on the wild side, playing with fire, crushing the boundaries and putting it all on the line. Ha! Devil be dared!  I’m claiming my manhood and the full domain of my dwelling. This is my house!

Well, I have to go. There is just enough time to finish my coffee, wash and dry the mug and place it carefully back in the cabinet before I leave to meet my dear, loving and kind wife for lunch.

Shhhhhh.  You won’t tell, right?

Sunday Coffee Cup - Crabby Mother

Some people are kind of crabby first thing in the morning. I remember my mother was (well, still is) one of those people. While most of the time my mother was one of the kindest, patient and loving people you would ever meet – not before she had had her morning coffee and cigarette.  The creature that preceded her caffeinated self was the very definition of “not a morning person." So ominous was her uncharacteristically grumpy self that my older brother got in the habit of perking the coffee for her each morning in hopes of hastening the process of her transformation to our loving mom.

Today’s Sunday Coffee Cup comes to us courtesy of my youngest step-daughter.   She returned from a beach trip one summer with this gift.

Although I pretty sure it was simply the obligatory gift for her mother (yes I did just say that), I have enjoyed it over the years as a reminder of my own mother’s Jeckle and Hyde morning coffee transformation – it makes me smile.

Sunday Coffee Cup – The Good Stuff

I remember clearly as a child, that I had two kinds of shoes: my everyday shoes and my Sunday shoes. The Sunday shoes were the ones I wore to church each week and to any special ‘dress up’ occasions. I suspect we all have special shoes or other items that see use only at certain times – dishes, for instance. On a normal day we go to the cabinet and grab any old plate, bowl or cup. On special days, we get out the good stuff – silver flatware, china plates and even cloth napkins.

I was no more than 11 and spending the day down the road playing at a friend’s home. It was getting late and near suppertime. My friend’s mother asked if I wanted to stay for dinner, and I declined. When she asked why I told her, “I’d better go home for dinner. Mom’s planning something special – she’s using cloth napkins and everything!” My mother loves to tell this story, because she was in fact, not planning anything special. She has always enjoyed the simple pleasures of life and believes that from time to time we should bring out the good stuff – just because - and enjoy it ourselves. That brings us to today’s Sunday Coffee Cup.

Allow me to introduce you to our wedding china. Today I’m having coffee with “the good stuff” and by that I mean more than the good china. I’m sipping wedding memories and sacred thoughts about love, marriage and the most wonderful woman I know – my wife. That makes for a fine cup of coffee.

Sunday Coffee Cup - BEM Interactive

If you have ever purchased promotional products, you know the horror of printing it wrong. Some time in the past, my employer had some new coffee cups printed. It was an exciting time because the company had just re-branded. After years of being known as Beyond Email, the brand had come to need a makeover and became BĒM (note the symbol over the E) - pronounced BEAM.

So the coffee cups were printed, sporting the new name and the bright green and charcoal colors and delivered - only to discover that the little ¯ over the E was missing. The error was corrected by the printing company and new mugs sent over. Then the misfit mugs were assigned residence in the office cupboard to be used internally by the staff. Enter today's coffee mug.

I was new to the company and wanted to take a mug home to give to my wife. Hey - I'm proud of where I work. It made sense to me to take one of the misfit mugs and save the 'good' ones for our clients. However, the owner of the company intervened and insisted I not only take my wife one of the good mugs, but that I take her one packaged in a clear box with green confetti and M&Ms.

It was a small gesture, but it meant a lot. In a small way she was saying - you and your family are worth more, valued, and I want you to know it.

Today and every time I find this cup at my morning table, I am reminded of that small - but significant - act of affirmation. Sometimes, we are at our best in the small things.

Sunday Coffee Cup - Mobile Joe

As much as I enjoy a good cup of coffee, slowly savored and methodically consumed in the quiet space of my familiar home, I  also like having a cup of Joe to go! This morning's Sunday Coffee Cup fits the bill well. My son gave this one to me this past Christmas and he selected it based on all the 'must have' features for a mobile mug.

Here's my list of what you need to take your coffee mobile:

1. Stainless steel inside and out. I don't want BPA leeching into my coffee from a cheap plastic liner.
2. Vacuum insulated, double walled seal. Keeping that hot coffee hot is important when your out in the cold.
3. No drip, no spill lid. The lid needs to seal tight and secure enough to handle the occasional tilt, wobble and drop. Also, that lid needs to do the job getting the sacred essence into my mouth with out dripping on my chin or rolling down the side of the mug after a quick slurp.
4. It has to be of a size to easily fit in the car cup holder and not be so small it rattles or jostles on every turn and bump.
5. Finally, my mobile cup has to be easy to grab and drink without looking. Meaning the shape of the mug and conture of the lid need to tell me which way to tip and sip - by feel alone.

That's it, and yes, I know I've given way too much thought to the mobile cup requirements, but this is just one of the byproducts of traveling too many miles on caffeine and dreams...which is another story. Later! Time to roll.

Sunday Coffee Cup - Enduring Pottery

Earthen, grounded, primal and essential are all words I think of when I encounter pottery. The connection between potter and medium is the creation moment. Dripping earth, turning upon the wheel, yielding to the slightest touch or brushing stroke of artist colliding with possibility – this is the moment I see in every piece of pottery.

There is something more substantial in a pottery mug. The weight of it and the irregularities of shape and color demand that each piece be seen and treated as individual. Pottery seems never to disconnect with its origins. No matter how finely shaped, painted or glazed, just the substantial feel of the pottery cup in my hands reminds me that it came from that particular combination of earth and craft. This morning’s Sunday Coffee Cup holds the honor of being the longest surviving piece of hand crafted pottery in my home.

It was a gift from my days as a pastor and has traveled between parsonages and offices; always radiating warmth to my hands as they clasped around its solid coil. It has held coffee, tea and the hopes and fears of a young pastor trying to make a difference. It's listened to people’s secrets and the rhythm of a daisy wheel printer typing out sermons. This potter's cup has seen months of daily use and adoration and has spent its time gathering dust on bookshelves and holding unused pens. It has survived moving boxes and the division of marital goods. Somehow, it remained in an unassuming fashion, waiting patiently for its turn to be held and used – to serve its quiet and steady purpose – solid, earthen, and primal is this cup.

It is amazing, warmed by the brew it holds today, cradled between my hands, all that this Sunday Coffee Cup holds for me.

Sunday Coffee Cup - Cafe Roche

Jazz floats through the space accompanied by a pleasant din of community conversation. A chat about home repairs, banter about the most accomplished local jazz groups and the common agreement that this is the best coffee served in tow are all a part of my morning today.

I often drive the short distance from my home to Café Roche on Sunday morning. If you’ve been there you know why. There is a welcoming eclectic mix of décor and people– always. Today’s coffee cup doesn’t come from my cupboard and isn’t adorned with a clever saying or photo, but it is rich and familiar in both its simple form and steaming content.

I enjoy my stops at Café Roche. This morning is a writing day, so I’ll nestle into the back corner of the use to be white sofa and pound out an hour or so worth of creative writing. Maybe I’ll write down my thoughts about the current craze around Tebowing (oh I have some strong thoughts about God and football), or continue my work on “Things I Wish I Had Said from the Pulpit”, but whatever comes the energy here will help. It is strong, animated and stimulating – just like this Sunday Coffee Cup.

Note: If you like, find out more about Café Roche over at Sarah’s blog.

Sunday Coffee Cup - A Welsh Dragon Friend

Although the dragon has been associated with many cultures, events and causes, one of the oldest and most continuous references is the Welsh dragon. Commonly attributed to the coat of arms of King Arthur, the Welsh dragon has flown for centuries over castles, armies and feasts.

This morning, a Welsh dragon stands undaunted in my kitchen; a coffee cup sporting a pewter design given to me by a long standing friend as a gift this past Christmas.

 The dragon is a welcome member in our home. Somewhere in my own ancestry, I have Welsh heritage.  My wife’s Chinese zodiac sign is the dragon. I have read more stories and novels about dragons than I care to publicly admit (although, if you haven’t discovered Christopher Paolini’s “Inheritance Cycle” you should).  Yet, what gives this mug particular brilliance this morning is the manner and source of the gift.

We all have them, friends who have been with us for a long time. They're the friends who know us “warts and all.” Friends -that take the time to visit, laugh and celebrate with you. Friends -who have stood with you through your best and worst, reminding you not to take too much credit for the former nor too much blame for the later. Such is the friend who gifted me with the Welsh dragon of today’s Sunday Coffee Cup. For these reasons alone I am grateful. The cup is more, however.

Over the past two years, this friend of mine has struggled with employment. This Christmas has found him on the short end of long line of financial challenges and still unemployed. Unable to buy gifts this Christmas, he gave me this gift from his common possessions – something he regularly used and valued. He chose to offer to me a measure of his life, a gift – appropriate in nature for sure – but a gift that meant he would in a small way, be doing with less by the giving of it. There is something remarkably refreshing in such giving and in this cup of coffee this morning.

Sunday Coffee Cup - New Year - What If!?

Well, here it is: New Year’s Day. Happy New Year! I’ve been wandering around the various Social Media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and my long list of blogs, and as expected, the current theme is all about new beginnings, resolutions and starting anew.

The end of a year (2011) and the beginning of a new year (2012) brings many of us to reflection. This morning’s Sunday Coffee Cup is no exception. Someone gave my wife this one last year (2011). If asking the right questions is the key to reflection (and I think it is), then we can get a good start with today’s inquisitive mug: What if money didn’t matter? What if you knew you could not fail? What if you could be anyone you wanted to be?

As I reflect on this year, I wonder, what if I’m already doing the right things. So often we look for new ideas, new habits and new practices. What if I look for what I am already doing that is working and just commit to continuing or amplifying those things? What if I begin this year with a deeper level of self acceptance for who I am and what I am already doing right? What if I stop striving to become something bigger, bolder and better than myself and just celebrate the me that already is?

Sure. I could lose a little weight, get more fit, read more, worry less, earn more, be more charitable, spend more time with family, be a better employee, achieve a few more professional/personal goals… and I probably will – because these things are important to me; always have been. Yet, I find myself wondering if I really need something new, something different in order to make this year, 2012, a great year. Isn’t it possible, that all I really need to do – is to keep doing the things that are working?  Maybe that is all I really need to do in order to make it happen. Maybe it is enough to be vigilant with what is already established. Maybe if I keep doing what I’m doing – I’ll keep getting what I’m getting, which (if I’m totally honest) is pretty darn good.  I do find some comfort in this thought.

Yet, the biggest comfort comes from my conviction that in the final analysis, the contribution that I make to my life is only a small part of what makes my life meaningful. It is true that no one can live my life other than me. It is true that I have full responsibility for my choices. It is also true that we all live in relationship to each other and often the significance of our living is manifest in countless and often unknown ways beyond our individual intent. How many of us have heard a student comment on the life changing actions of a single teacher only to have that teacher confess surprise at that revelation. I’ve had many experiences where people whose lives have been affected by moments from my years in ministry tell me of significant and life changing events that were ‘news to me.’ There is more going on than just what we determine and choose. It is my conviction that there is a loving, caring God at work in our lives doing far more for us and with our actions than we can fully understand.

2012 promises to be a great year because it doesn’t depend on me. I’ll do my part, for sure. I’ll keep doing the things that are working. I’ll try a few ways to better myself – and at the end of December 2012 I am already certain that –God willing – I will be celebrating another year that is great beyond my expectations.

Happy New Year.

Sunday Coffee Cup - Noel

Sometimes we have to provide the meaning.

How many times have we sung, “The First Noel?” It is a wonderful, commonly known carol. You most likely can sing it from memory – tune and verse. If you need a little help, I’ll get you started:

The first Nowell the Angel did say
Was to certain poor Shepherds in fields as they lay.
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
In a cold winter’s night that was so deep.

If you remember it slightly different, you are probably right, as well. There are many versions of “The First Noel,” or Nowell . It makes sense, really, considering the hymn dates back to the early 18th century and has made its way through countless Christian and popular revisions.

Today’s Sunday Coffee Cup reminds me of the popular and often misunderstood carol. Do you know what “noel” means? Perhaps. Perhaps not.  Noel derives its meaning from a French word (which came from a Latin word) that means “day of birth.” So, we are singing about the day of Jesus’ birth. It is a little difficult to ‘get’ the meaning of Noel from my coffee mug this morning.

The snoozing teddy bear and children’s block letters spelling Noel are – well – where’s the Christ in that? This morning Christ is there all right, but not because of the secularized image on the mug. No. The Christ of this Christmas morning rises, like the steam from this mug, from the beloved family, friends and fellowship of my life.  So, today – I will take the time (amid the busyness and chaos) to savor the moments of the day. The unwrapping of gifts will be symbols of the greater gift we have all been given. The indulgence of the meals will remind me of the abundant table that Christ sets before us. The laughter and tears (for both will come today) will remind me of the intensity of a life lived trusting a higher power. And this little sleeping bear, resting unknowingly upon the very word that announces Christ’s birth reminds me that because of what we celebrate this day – all is well.

Merry Christmas, my friends. Merry Christmas.


P.S. As I post this, Bing Crosby just began singing "The First Nowell" on the Panadora Christmas channel. Perfect.