Come, Have a Peace

7 Days in a Cafe ~ Day 6: People of the World

2012-02-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight we're picking up partners from Thailand who will be staying with us, and then our Global Missions Conference gets underway. It will be a week with a full schedule that will leave us with full hearts. Maybe my mind was already "here," but this Day in a Cafe seemed well timed ... even divinely timed. We appreciate your prayers for a sweet week considering the People of the World.

We were kind of tired from a lot of serving and needed to get away to a quiet, secluded place to rest. Along the way, we found a new coffee shop. At the counter, a woman without a smile met us and took our orders. She asked if my coffee was to stay or to go, but she answered that it didn’t matter before I could say I wanted to stay. We ordered a Divine Bar to share, and she tried to give us the corner piece with a chunk missing. She makes me want to call this one a “store,” instead of a “café.” There’s a difference.

Out of the four rooms with wide oak trimmed doors, we picked a small table in a corner; the high stools gave a good view of the store. Except for the man with many papers, the rest of the store was full of couples. Maybe they felt less intimidated by the smile-less woman if they come in pairs.

The couple facing the door seems to be an interesting mix. She has long straight hair in the kind of scrunchy my kids tell me people wore in the 80’s. Her friend has a baseball hat and hip black glasses that make me wonder if he’s the special music tonight. They got mugs from the woman at the counter.

Not too far from the mismatched pair, a perfectly matched couple shares a single chair, piled on like a two scoop ice cream cone. I don’t even think they have coffee. They don’t act like they know they’re in a “store.”
Two women with a baby sit under the mantel, chatting like people who practice talking softly while a baby sleeps. From my view two other women pairs are deep in conversation. One twosome both have night black hair and slanted eyes, and they talk fast and close in a language different from any other in the store. Maybe they made the counter woman grouchy. Glasses and cups fill the table in front of them, like they want to settle in and stay for a while.

On the other side of the wall from the jabbering friends sits two women with salt and caramel colored hair, and they talk close but loud, in the language we know. While we share our Divine Bar, one lady shares all about her upcoming trip to faraway places. She feels a total confidence about traveling and gaining an understanding of foreign people, and she found a white head scarf at TJ Maxx, so that makes her feel like she’s “meant” to go on this journey of discovery. She knows she’s meant to experience the people of the world. Her girlfriend is excited for her and thinks “That’s great” a lot; they’re talking pretty loud. I don’t think they know there are “people of the world” on the other side of the wall from them, right here in this store.

Come to think of it, the two scoop couple in the single chair is rather foreign acting. The baby with the ladies is jabbering in its language, and the man with the papers is definitely studying something. To be honest, the smile-less counter woman doesn’t seem like she fits in here at all; maybe she’s from a different place too. This store is FILLED with people of the world. The woman about to take a trip could start right here, and she wouldn’t even have to wear her head scarf from TJ Maxx.

Jesus once went away to a secluded place with his disciples. They had been so busy with people they didn’t even have time to eat, so they needed a little “café time.” The crowds from many different places saw them leaving and followed them. Instead of blurting out, “For crying out loud, I’m trying to have a quiet and a cup of coffee,” Jesus acted so differently. “When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34). When Jesus saw the people of the world He felt compassion for them.

I’m not always like Jesus, especially when I haven’t eaten and I just want to find a secluded place. I should’ve smiled at the counter woman when she gave me the paper cup. I don’t have a white head scarf, and I’m not going to the same “so great” place that the caramel headed lady is, but I’m going to my life and to another café another day. I tossed away my empty cup and noticed everyone else in the café crowd had settled in with their ceramic mugs, these people of the world.

Would you be willing to ask God to show you the "People of the world" around you?
And would you ask Him to give you the kind of compassion He has for them?

7 Days in a Cafe ~ Day FIVE: Watered Down

2012-02-21T22:03:00.000-05:00

I’m not here because their coffee is one of my favorites. It always tastes like they watered it down to take away the bite. But it offers one of my favorite views: the Downtown Grind, in a building called the Phoenix. There’s a lone worker here, and she moves back and forth from the coffee shop side to the dry cleaner pick up side. No one else is here, and I’ll be surprised if anyone else comes in, but many will go by.

I’m wrong. A man with a Civil War style vest and a beard to go with it comes in and orders a medium coffee, with very good manners I might add. He doesn’t sit down. That’s probably because the Downtown Grind puts on “to go” lids so people can keep moving. I took the lid off of my cup, because I plan to sit and watch and listen. From this window framed year ‘round by white Christmas lights, I see the world pass.

A man with a long backpack walks past the untitled store across the street; it’s decorated with lottery posters saying “Play Here.” He didn’t follow the neon light inside like a bug would, but I wonder if he has before, since he’s wearing bare feet and sandals on a day when people took their scarves and pea coats out. He looks like he would like to find a place to sit called “the Phoenix,” but watching the world would just be a bonus.

A long brown coat walks by with a man inside, and I recognize him as a local reporter who writes about people. A sweatshirt with a man in it walks by, and he looks strangely like the bearded, vested man; with so much variety outside of this window, how do we end up being so much the same? The sweatshirt carries a camera, and I wonder who and what he wants to capture. If he hurries he might catch the bare footed man. If he waits long enough, he might see the smiling Asian lady with pony tails, pushing her cart down the stage in front of me. He might see the tall, dark corner-dancing man who sometimes wears slippers and totes a brown furry puppy backpack.

A police officer walks by, and his flapping ticket pad catches my eye. It makes me feel like I should move my car, even though I’m not parked illegally. People think it’s hard to park here, but that’s just because their understanding of the downtown grind is watered down. It’s not hard to park, but someone with a puppy backpack might stand on the corner near your car.

Jesus wants us to know how much He wants us to resist hanging up lights to make ourselves feel better about the view. He said that, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:40). Lots of the least pass by this tall window in the Phoenix.

A man outside the window now walks by with a slow and rhythmic pace, like he’s going to be walking all day. He’s got a pack on his back and a duffel bag around his chest, and he’s talking to himself, because no one else is with him. If he sits down with his backpack and duffel, the pad toting policeman will tell him to move. If he had a cup from the Downtown Grind, he might be allowed to sit at one of their tables …. even though it is too cold for bare feet. The herd of business people who just passed could stop wherever they want or sit wherever they want, because they don’t do things like where pony tails or go out without socks in February.
I wonder if the lady who passes between pressed shirts and pressed coffees all day sees the world passing or if it’s just become wallpaper in her day, like her watered down coffee. Do I see the world passing when I’m not looking out of a big window framed by Christmas lights? What’s in the wallpaper around me? Who’s in the wallpaper?

Maybe I’m alone in this Downtown Grind because this window’s view isn’t always pleasant; maybe there are Christmas lights because it waters down the scene. People feel uncomfortable with ugliness, so it’s our instinct not to go or look there, not to leave the window unframed. If all else fails we might water it down. That way, there’s not a lot of bite.

The lady in pony tails walks by, and I feel like I know her. She’s walking faster than usual, probably because it’s cold. It’s going to get colder tonight and tomorrow and the next day, and there’s no way to water that down.

Do you see the least from the window where you sit?

Marriage Mondays: 5 Perks of a Cafe Table

2012-02-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Since starting “7 Days in a Café,” I’m observing a lot more than just the depth of the whip on my latte. While sitting in a café with a young gal I’m mentoring, I noticed that most of the tables around us were occupied by couples. Not surprising … after all, it was the weekend before Valentine’s Day and a place known for its French crepes. Thus, the heavy concentration of couples.

The Nutella crepes may draw people in (YUM!); it certainly isn’t the comfort of the café tables and chairs. The seating is small, metal, and cold. I almost felt like I had to sit up straight like the Eiffel Tower so I wouldn’t fall out of my chair. I wanted to suggest to Monsieur Le Proprietor (I really don’t think that’s French) that they put a little cushion on each of the chairs and that they get bigger chairs. After all, no one who frequents a crepe café is going to fit on a teeny tiny metal chair. Just sayin’ …

The couples didn’t seem to care about the chairs. There were young ones and older ones and “how did they end up together?” ones. They each claimed a café table of their own, and I observed them. This is what I learned:

5 Perks of a Café Table

If you sit at a café table, it’s easier to share crepes.

If you sit at a café table, it’s easier to listen well.

If you sit at a café table, it’s easier to notice details about your partner.

If you sit at a café table, it’s easier to hold hands.

If you sit at a café table, it’s easier to feel private, and that leads to intimacy.

In our busy world it isn't easy to shut out what's around us to focus on each other and enjoy each other. It's God's plan that we should. "May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love" (Prov. 5:18-19). By intentionally and physically drawing away and drawing close, we set ourselves up to rejoice in each other, to satisfy each other, and to captivate each other. You're more likely to have the opportunity to be be captivated at a table for two.

When I was growing up my dad always asked for a “bigger table,” preferably a booth. That’s great for a group or for “Kids Menu” kind of meals, but a small café table has its perks. Next time you go out (and you should go out), whether it’s a McDonald’s or a pizza place or a café with a Monsieur, choose a little table for two. Don’t be shy about saying, “We’d rather not have a big table or a booth. Maybe something small, like at a crepe place.” You’ll be so glad you did.