Something's Percolating.

 Springtime of my youth meant there would be little girls and pet lambs running through the house, much to the delight of my grandpa who sat alert at his post on the couch guarding a spittoon between his feet.  We were quite a sight in long prairie dresses mom made with flouncy ruffles at the bottom.  The fabric had a patriotic bicentennial pattern of liberty bells and eagles and my cousins were so proud of theirs they even wore the matching bonnets to school on picture day, because nobody told them years later they might regret that. Sometimes we’d dress up the pet lambs too but they weren’t nearly as fancy. One can imagine active little feet and bouncing lamb hooves galloping deliriously back and forth from the kitchen to the living room and how naturally Pap’s spittoon would get spilled occasionally. It wasn’t long before mom quickly made Pap trade his proper brass one for a more practical one repurposed from a big Maxwell House coffee can, complete with a plastic lid that had to be placed on when he got up from his post. I’ve been seeing several of those blue coffee cans with bold letters at antique shops lately and the memories of Pap and his springtime spectacle are welcomed back in an instant.
    Another caffeinated memory is getting up early before dad went to work and there would be coffee gurgling in the stainless steel percolator.  Occasionally the hot brown nectar would bubble up into the clear glass knob on the lid. Mom and dad would enjoy a cup and then she’d pour the rest in his beat up green Stanley thermos to revive him later when he and the other woodsmen took a much needed break.  It’s amazing how I can still imagine the comforting smell of Dad’s lunch box…a blend of sandwiches, coffee, freshly dug ginseng roots, and chainsaw grease.
     The legend of coffee goes way back to ancient Africa where a goat herder saw his goats having erratic behavior after spending time in a patch of coffee bean bushes…and then decided to try them himself.  His experiment seems risky, but look at us today! There is a coffee shop in every respectable town. And just imagine if the ten virgins awaiting the bridegroom in Matthew 25: 1-10 had been drinking coffee they might have all stayed awake and realized five still needed to obtain more lamp oil.  And if the disciples had tried taking a thermos of coffee with them to the Garden of Gethsemane that night, maybe they would not have fallen asleep when Jesus told them to stay awake and keep watch with him and pray as recorded in Matthew 26:36-46.  “And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.”  
     I don’t like coffee but I do enjoy drinking tea…And when I needed to stay alert driving home from Ohio to WV after teaching school on Fridays, a Mt. Dew and a Three Musketeers bar were my go to.  (I’m not proud of that, but it was part of my story).  Honestly, now caffeine is not the thing I need to stay awake at this stage in my life…often it’s just self-control and willpower.  If I can put away the phone and stop scrolling on reels, I can get upstairs and have time to say meaningful prayers before bed.  If I can turn off the TV, I’ll have a better night’s rest and feel more refreshed in the morning…Can I get an amen?
     Of course the main lesson in Jesus’ parable about the unprepared virgins running out of lamp oil, and the recording of the disciples falling asleep in the garden was less about physically staying awake and more about being “soul ready” at all times because we don’t know the hour or the minute He will return.  Even now there might be something percolating.

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