The Sacraments of Life (3)

 Coffee Mugs (2)

We have three mugs from Alaska, we used to have four but the interior of the one which was my favorite deteriorated – I wish I’d kept it to put pencils and pens in. I’m not always very bright. The one on my desk as I write this is hand painted and on the bottom indicates that it cannot be microwaved and must be hand-washed. The painting is of early Russian settlers harvesting and baking.

Most mugs today can be microwaved and placed in a dishwasher. Isn’t that like most relationships? Our interactions are rapid, they get to the point, and then we move on to the next person. 

Vickie has a beautiful mug, given to her by a friend, which also cannot be microwaved and must be hand-washed. If she uses this mug and wants the coffee in it heated in the microwave, we pour the coffee into another mug, heat it up, and then pour it back into the beautiful mug.

Vickie’s beautiful mug used to have a golden ring around its lip, but a visitor once used the mug without reading the instructions on the bottom and the microwave destroyed the ring. Since then we’ve kept the mug in a china cabinet and only take it out when she’s going to use it so as to protect it from further damage. 

I met a pastor a few months ago who was wearing a shirt with the “iron sharpens iron” passage from Proverbs printed on it. We were both in the waiting room of a doctor’s office. I asked him if he found the verse to be true.

He said to me, “I am a pastor.”

I replied, “That doesn’t mean anything. Do you find the verse to be true in your life?”

He did a dance which was a combination of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, meaning that he didn’t give me a direct answer. 

Then I asked, “Do people in your church have opportunities to really get to know one another?”

Then he went into a breakdance. 

An old acquaintance of mine used to muse, “It is difficult to have fellowship with the back of someone’s head.” 

How do we miss that obvious point?

I invited the pastor to coffee or lunch one day. A few weeks later I met him for lunch and after 45 minutes he said, “Well, I’ve taken up enough of your time,” and left.

Now I know what it is to be microwaved.

You shouldn’t put iron in the microwave.