The Fine Art Of Sipping Tea

Coffee and tea make for an interesting comparison.

Coffee is the quick blast of power; the oil making business and heart rates run as it energizes.  It is snatches of conversation among cubicle warriors, something to be gulped as final preparation before the day’s battles.  It is the liquid power lunch, a frantic aroma of hurried agendas and lives hurling themselves into any possible direction as long as it eventually moves forward.  Coffee is to the bleary as Vicks is to those weary from a cold.  It’s a legal hyper high.

Tea is low-key contemplation, something to be brewed and sipped with deliberate care.  It is a quiet afternoon conversation, stories told at ease among friends.  It is for thinking and dreaming, a wistful sigh of a drink consumed not for empowerment but as a vessel toward enlightenment.  Tea is the antithesis of modern media, a barrage of sound bytes and snark screaming how we want it all right now.  That’s a job for coffee.  Tea is for research and study.  Instant gratification?  Not so much.

Now that we’ve had our tea parties, while prepping for the next batch come July fourth the question has been raised as to where we should go from here.  My suggestion is we put down the coffee and brew some tea.  Indulge me as I flesh this notion out a bit.

What should be done?  Some suggestions:

Study the cornerstone. We know what we believe… or do we?  Further, do we know why we believe what we believe?  It’s all well and good to say we believe in limited government, lower taxes and the like.  But have we studied the reasons behind these assertions?  The more we learn what’s going on, not settling for what we’re being told is going on but taking our information from the root sources, the better off we are.  Bills, speeches and press conferences are almost always available in unfiltered form.  Seek them out.  Also seek out those whose words on a given topic carry weight not because of status or popularity but rather from an unimpeachable résumé.  I’m fond of the saying “only those who have been through the fire can speak with authority to those still engulfed in flames.”  The same is true for more benign areas of life.  Without discounting our own ability to study and learn, it only makes sense to enrich ourselves with the shared knowledge of the learned.  That said, always keep in mind true wisdom has only one beginning point.  Namely, at the foot of the Cross.

Stop saying stupid stuff. It’s far too easy in this world to look at only the surface of things, as Paul admonished the church at Corinth.  It’s also far too easy to throw out the wheat with the chaff.  Consider for a moment the whole quote: “You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he.”  If we become so strident in our demands for ideological purity to where we immediately reject those who have the least quibble with any of our assertions, we’re going to become very self-isolated very quickly.  How can we win over hearts and minds if we’re shouting to each other and no one else?

While compromising our beliefs is never an option, learning how and when to let things slide is vital in this contentious, fractious world.  Again quoting Paul: “All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.  And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.”  Remember the starting place for all true wisdom.

We need to punt the paranoia.  Obama’s brownshirts are not going to kick down our front door, confiscate our guns and drag us all off to slave labor camps where we will have brainwashing speeches thrown at us 24/7.  Okay?  Get a grip and get real.

Remember that Jesus died for Barack Obama just as He died for everyone else. Do not let ideological and political differences become a reason for personal hatred.  This is never an option.  Instead, stand in firm opposition armed with the truth, a smile and an outstretched hand.

There is neither argument nor defense against love.  Why did Jesus command us to love our enemies?  For one, to show them the fundamental falsehood in what they hold to as the reason for their hatred.  If they choose to continue in their hatred, so be it.  We’ve done our part.

Now is not the time for trying to out-do the other side in screeching.  Now is the time for direct involvement.  Be it on an organized or personal basis, put charity into action.  We must take care of each other and especially those considered to be “others.”  A helping hand, a comforting word; carrying each other’s burdens.  Deflate and defeat the lie that our sole objective is selfishness with deeds, for in this area words are meaningless.

Let us take time to sip our tea slowly, using this time wisely as we reinforce our knowledge and reinvigorate our efforts to fight the good fight with love and purpose.  Nothing else will suffice.

Nothing.