Being Okay

Recently while discussing the popularity of coffee on NPR, Jerry Seinfeld discussed our desire to feel like things are okay:

…we all need a little help, and the coffee’s a little help with everything — social, energy, don’t know what to do next, don’t know how to start my day, don’t know how to get through this afternoon, don’t know how to stay alert. We want to do a lot of stuff; we’re not in great shape. We didn’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re a little depressed. Coffee solves all these problems in one delightful little cup.¹

I’m right there with you, Jerry. That warm cup is available and welcome in my hands in nearly any circumstance. It is just as good on a relaxing Friday night at home as it is on a Monday morning at work or a stressful Thursday afternoon at the emergency room. It soothes nerves, increases resolve, and tastes good. Beyond that, it gives a little reassurance that everything is okay or will be okay.

“But,” you may be thinking, “isn’t that going a little far? You’ve made coffee your idol.” I admit that I probably occasionally do. It’s just a dumb drink, and here I am saying it gives me comfort on a lonely morning. But I think there’s more to it than that. To a believer, coffee, like so many of the small things in our lives, is a gift from God that reminds us that everything is okay. We may not be chatting with burning bushes or dining with angels anytime soon, but we can see God in the things he’s created: warm heirloom quilts, fragrant blooming roses, silly laughing children, and hot cups of coffee…they all remind us that God is there, that he’s taking care of us, and that things are okay.