My Ordinary Coffee 
By: Andrea Beyke   

           One of my favorite parts of the day: my morning coffee.  I admit it.  I’m an addict.  Not only do I love coffee, I need it.   Trust me, you don’t want me to go without it.  It’s for your own safety that I drink my coffee.   But it’s also good…so good!  And so I began to consider: 

           How do I know that my cup of coffee is good?  If it just sat there without me drinking it, would I know that it was good?  No.  It is by drinking the coffee, when the coffee shares its goodness, that I know it’s good.  If something is good, by its very nature, it is meant to be shared, like a cup of coffee.  In the same way, because God is inherently good, that goodness is shared.  It is God’s sharing that is creation.  Both Scripture and the Church’s Tradition support this notion.

           The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), which is our Tradition infused with Scripture, states, “The world was made for the glory of God…God created all things not to increase God’s glory, but to show it forth and to communicate it, for God has no other reason for creating than love and goodness…” (CCC #293)  God created the world to communicate God’s essence and God’s goodness.  This is why the world is so beautiful, because in its beauty, it gives glory to God. 

           The catechism goes on to say, “Because creation comes forth from God’s goodness, it shares in that goodness – ‘And God saw that it was good…very good’ – for God willed creation as a gift addressed to humans, an inheritance destined for and entrusted to them.” (CCC #299)  So, not only does God desire to share God’s goodness, God desires to share creation with us!  Creation is a form of self-emptying, allowing us to experience God. 

           However, with this experience of Creation comes a certain obligation to it.  We are co-creators, workers in God’s kingdom, and charged with the duty of caring for creation.  We continue God’s goodness by practicing unity with it.  By caring for Creation and protecting it, we honor the earth’s beauty and God's glory.  This is a task that should not be taken lightly and is a pivotal part of the story, the story that began with God’s very first act. 

            God created the world for us, from nothing, because God wanted to!  And then, God gave us the choice to recognize its holiness. So drink your coffee, take an extra deep breath, go for a long walk, feel the cold air in your nostrils, let the sun envelop you, and know that God is there.  Part of the ordinary.  Because God created the ordinary, making it so very holy.