I know ... something of a pattern is developing. I promise that my next post will not feature tea. However, the term 'cup of tea' - or its common abbreviation 'cuppa' - has a place of particular fondness in my memory. It reminds me of a particular gentleman whose personality was such as to make an impression on my teenage son, who resented joining me in our visit, yet came away saying, "What a nice old chap!" In a story told to me many years ago by the speaker's daughter-in-law, 'cuppa' featured in a frequent expression of this self-made, and largely self-educated, man. In his working life he was a professional gardener and in retirement, after an afternoon's work in his own garden, he would suggest to his wife that it was time for 'a nice cup of tea'. In the sort of private language that happy families develop, this was conveyed as "Scuppatee, Rose?"
Tea, as most of my readers will readily acknowledge, has many properties. It can be the source of refreshment - as in the case of that gardener - or of stimulation or energy. It's often the vehicle by which neighbours will get to know one another. Although in recent years tea has perhaps been overtaken by coffee as the drink of invitation, the truth remains that to share 'a cup of something' is a good way to deepen an acquaintance or to share - or even resolve - a problem. A cup is also a euphemism, a shorthand if you will, for the burden of office. It's a way of expressing succinctly the complexities of a task or challenge that is faced by someone in the course of their life.
There are Biblical precedents for each of these examples, each of which provides food for thought in the direction of drawing us closer to our Lord. Jesus wasn't thinking of tea or coffee when he said, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink." (John 7:37), and I don't think the psalmist was referring to a drink when he wrote, "Lord You alone are my portion and my cup of blessing; You make my lot secure" (Ps. 16:5).
When it comes to giving a cup of friendship to those in need, we have to acknowledge that members of the Salvation Army offer the best example. They can comfortably rely on Jesus' promise, "If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you that person will certainly not lose their reward." (Matt. 10:42).
When James and John, supported by their mother, sought prominent places in the Kingdom to come, Jesus challenged them, "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" (Matt. 20:22), and when that time came to Him, Jesus spent a night of agony in the garden of Gethsemane and asked, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will but as You will." (Matt. 26:39).
And what is my point in reciting all of these? I recall a particular moment in my life - 20 years ago this week - when Jesus' agonised plea in the garden provided the words for my own prayers, and prompted me to turn to Him to see me through a frightening situation. How often in our day do we turn to a cup (yes, or a mug) for a refreshing drink? How great would be the improvement in our lives if, at all those times, we were to remember our Lord, and commit to Him whatever might be on our minds just at that moment?
Saturday 15 June 2019
Saturday 1 June 2019
A Refreshing Cup of Tea
My keen reader will immediately spot a link with my last post here, which referred to my late mother stirring her tea and gazing out of the window. One of my morning pleasures is to enjoy a mug of tea as I read my Bible; it happens to be beside my window, but the armchair is so low that I can see nothing out of my window but a tree and a telegraph pole. One day I might write about them but today I want to focus on the brew.
Usually, if I'm offered tea, my response is to ask if coffee is available; I find pleasure in tea only if it's Earl Grey and, since that's not universally available, I don't like to appear too fussy. When I visit my cousin, I have to be sure to take my own tea-bags since she "refuses to drink tea that tastes like washing-up liquid!" I can see where she's coming from. The secret is in the bergamot and lemon flavouring that is present throughout the drink.
Let me confess the extent of my fussiness and say that not all Earl Grey teas are the same. I bought a cheaper brand once and found that - although the box offered the same distinctive fragrance - there was so little actual flavour in the tea itself that I had to replace it. Maybe it happened to be the 'end of the line', but I never bought that brand again!
As I remembered that imperfect tea, I thought of Jesus' teaching about Christian behaviour in what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. "You are the salt of the earth," He told the crowds who listened, "but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." (Matt. 5:13). I think that's what happened to the tea I replaced.
Later in his gospel, Matthew quotes a short parable Jesus used to illustrate the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven: "like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 30 kilograms of flour until it worked all through the dough." (Matt. 13:33). The yeast reached every part of the dough and the Kingdom of God reaches every person who commits himself to Jesus.
There's a common saying, sometimes found in one a number of slight variations, that a rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. If there's just a small part of the dough that the yeast hasn't reached, or a single tea-bag in the box that didn't go through the proper filter, or strayed in from another production line, it can spoil the end product, be it an evenly raised loaf, a good cup of tea or anything else. We've seen this over the last few years as one wave of scandal after another has hit the headlines over child abuse within a church context.
Each of us must remember that the Church is Christ's ambassador on earth. It is the individual Christian who carries His credentials to the non-believer and it's his behaviour on which the non-believer will base his decision whether or not to believe. We all should do our best to reflect our Lord in every aspect of our lives for, even though a slip can be forgiven, any bad impression it has left will not be easily erased.
Usually, if I'm offered tea, my response is to ask if coffee is available; I find pleasure in tea only if it's Earl Grey and, since that's not universally available, I don't like to appear too fussy. When I visit my cousin, I have to be sure to take my own tea-bags since she "refuses to drink tea that tastes like washing-up liquid!" I can see where she's coming from. The secret is in the bergamot and lemon flavouring that is present throughout the drink.
Let me confess the extent of my fussiness and say that not all Earl Grey teas are the same. I bought a cheaper brand once and found that - although the box offered the same distinctive fragrance - there was so little actual flavour in the tea itself that I had to replace it. Maybe it happened to be the 'end of the line', but I never bought that brand again!
As I remembered that imperfect tea, I thought of Jesus' teaching about Christian behaviour in what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. "You are the salt of the earth," He told the crowds who listened, "but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." (Matt. 5:13). I think that's what happened to the tea I replaced.
Later in his gospel, Matthew quotes a short parable Jesus used to illustrate the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven: "like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 30 kilograms of flour until it worked all through the dough." (Matt. 13:33). The yeast reached every part of the dough and the Kingdom of God reaches every person who commits himself to Jesus.
There's a common saying, sometimes found in one a number of slight variations, that a rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. If there's just a small part of the dough that the yeast hasn't reached, or a single tea-bag in the box that didn't go through the proper filter, or strayed in from another production line, it can spoil the end product, be it an evenly raised loaf, a good cup of tea or anything else. We've seen this over the last few years as one wave of scandal after another has hit the headlines over child abuse within a church context.
Each of us must remember that the Church is Christ's ambassador on earth. It is the individual Christian who carries His credentials to the non-believer and it's his behaviour on which the non-believer will base his decision whether or not to believe. We all should do our best to reflect our Lord in every aspect of our lives for, even though a slip can be forgiven, any bad impression it has left will not be easily erased.
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