Coffee is not the point

Some people are finding it hard to believe that I am giving up coffee for Lent. Tea, hot chocolate, beer and milk? Yes. But coffee? Get serious, Hannah. That's too hard core.

Common conversations have gone like this:

Person: "So, are you giving up anything for Lent this year?"

Me: "Yes. I'm giving up all beverages but water. I'm going to save the money I would spend on other beverages and give it to Living Water International to provide clean water for impoverished people around the world."

Person: "What? No way. You're giving up coffee for Lent? You?"

Me: "Well, actually it's all beverages. I'll drink only water for 40 days in order to give clean water--"

Person: "Wow. You giving up coffee. That is brave."

Yada, yada, yada. It's like my name is synonymous with coffee. Am I in the thesaurus?

Am I really THAT addicted?

The answer to that question is: probably. From previous camping/backpacking/emergency situations, I KNOW the headache that awaits me. I do love my coffee. Not just for its caffeine, but for its aroma and its muse-like qualities when I write. I like to talk over coffee and think over coffee. I feel more like me with a cup of coffee in my hand.

And so, yeah, this year's Lenten fast is a sacrifice for me. I've actually considered fasting from coffee before and chickened out. It'll be a real character builder. I hope I learn to be me without the aid of my favorite drink. I hope I learn to be me as God sees me.

But, I beg you, please remember that coffee is not the point. And, if you're fasting for Lent, I beg you, remember that whatever you are giving up is not the point. It is easy to have pride in our fasting. And, from what I've read, God hates that. I would even say that fasting is not the point.

The point is: to sacrifice that you might know the suffering of the poor.

The point is: to do more than know.

The point is: to pray. And to give. To give yourself away and get lost in God's love for others.

The point is: God can say this way better than me. Check it out in Isaiah 58:3-11:


3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

The point is: You've gotta check out this video. Even if you don't do Lent, I would encourage you to consider praying for and giving to Living Water International. They love the poor and downtrodden. Won't you, too?



H20 Project from Living Water International on Vimeo.