The Greatest Cup of Coffee Ever

A tragic event took place last week. A man by the name of Jason William Schultz was sitting and waiting at a bus stop in Southern California when he was struck by an elderly driver who lost control of his car. A fireman at the accident site spoke with a witness…a woman was there with Schultz. The woman described how Schultz was enjoying a cup of coffee and said to her, “This is the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had, you should get some.” The moment of Schultz’s death took place while the woman was in the 76 Station grabbing her own cup of coffee. It just wasn’t her time.

I don’t know about you, but I believe that when our time is up, the “powers that be” sweep us away which might seem a bit hollow, shrill, eerie. But as the “powers” take us, while we are here, they also provide for us…so long as we are “connected” and listening, feeling, and receiving their gifts.

Think of “connected” in this way. You are either a flower in a vase, a flower in a garden, or a flower in a forest. A flower in a vase, while beautiful, is disconnected from its roots, and inevitably withering away. A flower in a garden is connected to the earth, nourished by the sun, but somewhat removed from its natural habitat. And a flower in the forest is exposed and courageously in touch with life in all of its pain and glory. I invite you to ponder the following:

1. Flower in a Vase
There are days where each and every human is a flower in a vase. It feels as if we are running out of time, money, hope… much like the feeling of a flower plucked from its roots. In this anxiety-ridden state, we are disconnected. We tend to miss out on encounters, revelations, and opportunities that would fall right into our lap were we to be more present. BUT it’s never too late to slow down, to get quiet, to embrace spare moments without buzzing gadgets or ringing phones. To dig our roots deeper, if not in the soil, than in our communities, with our families, in reflective walks or meditative journeys. As Bertrand Russell said, “A generation that cannot endure boredom will be a generation of little men, of men unduly divorced form the slow process of nature, of men in whom every vital impulse slowly withers as though they were cut flowers in a vase.”

2. Flower in a Garden
There are days where each and every human is a flower in a garden. Such days are characterized by a more grounded, relaxed, connected sensation. In such a state, a human being willingly embraces the cycles of life, knowing that life is not just good, happy, and perfect but also sad, frustrating, and messy. Such a human being begins to sense that while tragedy can strike in a moment’s notice, so can incredible opportunity take place at any second. Should one dare to trust just a tad more, there’s a gut feeling that something powerful waits around the corner. As Thoreau said, “Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw.”

3. Flower in the Forest
There are days where each and every human is a flower in a forest. It’s a feeling of reconnecting with your most wild and primal self. In my book, I call this place your Inner Scotland. During the Roman Empire, the Romans conquered almost all of Europe but left alone this one little tip of land now known as Scotland. Why? They said the Scots were too dumb to educate and too brave to conquer. Each of us must protect within ourselves an Inner Scotland… the unconquered, uninfluenced territory. From this wild if not rugged space, we are most aware, most appreciative, and most humbled by “something” greater than our own self. According to John Randolph Price, “Until we transcend the ego, we do nothing but add to the insanity of the world.”

I invite you to re consider the story of Jason William Schultz mentioned above. Surely, like each of us, he’d had his days in the vase, and his days in the garden. But as he pronounced “this is the best cup of coffee I ever had” on that fresh Spring morning last week in Southern California, there’s no doubt he was a flower in the forest. Alive, present, vibrant. It might have been his final moment. But sometimes all it takes is one brilliant taste of coffee, one perfect note of music, one sparkling revelation in an otherwise monotone existence. Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore said it absolutely perfectly, “The butterfly counts not months but moments and has time enough.”

Your Hand In Mine Explosions In The Sky
Grace Is Gone Dave Matthews Band
Boom Boom Pow Black Eyed Peas
Free Tracy Chapman
The Great Salt Lake Band Of Horses
Golden My Morning Jacket
Wagon Wheel Old Crow Medicine
Shangri-La M. Ward
Sweet Jane Cowboy Junkies
Better Together Jack Johnson (from Hawaiian Slack Key Kings)