It has been a popular concept in contemporary circles to encourage young professionals, maybe even young people in general; that what they do isn’t an important factor to their personal identity. I think I understand what’s caused this new paradigm shift. It has been a response to a generation saturated with workaholics, whom because of their preoccupation with their occupation missed out on much of the rest of their life. Their families, marriage, health and therefore quality of their work suffered because of this highly imbalanced lifestyle. With this in mind I can see some merit in this popular concept, but I think like most response-driven stances, the pendulum may have swung to far in the opposite direction.
If you would allow me to stack my gapping ignorance due to lack of life experiences on top of my ridiculously inflated sense of idealism and my strong internal drive for perfection for a moment, I would like to explain why I think what we do is the key factor to our personal identity. Being faced with a situation in which I am not able to do what I do seems at this moment to be one of the most incredibly uncomfortable places I have ever found myself. At first I believed it was because I am slightly hyper-active and feel as if I am lost without something to occupy my self in. But as I have tried to fill this abundance of free time with anything I can, I have realized that nothing takes the place of a calling. It is not that I chose to identify myself by what I do, but rather what I do makes me who I am… and I like who I am because I love what I do. I know that my marriage and my health are important but I also think I am a better husband and healthier person when the higher levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs), esteem and self-actualization, are satisfied in my life. If I were to choose to limit my identity to merely getting by I believe that I would be missing out on all the best parts of what it means to be alive. Life without immersing one’s self in gainful and meaningful purpose and service is like driving to Disney World and riding the tram around the parking lot all day and then going home… or at least for me it is like that.
I am afraid for my contemporaries in this generation who have been so encouraged to not be what they have been called to be, but rather just do what they have been called to be. I am afraid that they will never know the full joy of life… that they will never walk through the gates of the Magical Kingdom that is being a minister, but they will settle for the parking lot tram of doing ministry, because we have been told that if we over commit we will burn-out, suffer moral failure, lose touch with the people around us and the people closest to us, and then get kicked out of the game. But that is a totally illogical reason not to play in the first place. For me, knowing how great it was to have it and now feeling like it has been taken away from me for no reason is motivation enough for me to never disqualify, never burn out, and most of all to never taken any of this great privilege for granted again.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Bentley Class, Farrari Flair
For the last week there has been a new face at Espresso dell'Anatra. Graham was hired last Wednesday and has been training since then. Before I explain what training means here I need to explain that Espresso dell'Anatra is not a normal coffee house. Kansas City has a ton of little privately and locally owned coffee shops, not to mention plenty of Starbucks and even a few Caribou (which if you have never heard of is actually the second largest retail coffee shop in the world, but is still totally dwarfed by Starbucks.)
Espresso isn't the Cadillac of coffee houses... they are a collaboration between Bentley and Ferrari. I come to Espresso dell'Anatra because they are the best of the best. They only get the best coffee beans, they only use milk from a local farm that is all natural and it is delivered everyday in glass bottles, and they are not making your espresso with a super-automatic monster like Starbucks... they have a 4 head semi-automatic machine that is constantly cared for like any high performance machine should be. There are three other baristas than Graham, all of whom know their stuff. We're not talking just knowing the menu and how to make the drinks... they know the history of the processes they are using to make the coffee, where, how, and when the beans they sell were grown, and everything else you could imagine wanting to know about the growing, drying, roasting, processing, selling, serving, and drinking coffee. Aaron, who owns Espresso dell’Anatra, is an award winning barista for both the quality of the drinks and the flair of 'latte art' (which is drawing pictures and patterns in the top of a latte by the way you pour the milk into it.) They are Bentley class with Ferrari flair.
Graham is being introduced into all of this... and I wouldn't want to be him right now. He has been working full shifts every day that are just training. Once again, it isn't just how to make the drinks; they are training his senses of smell and taste. One of the training sessions that I sat in on with Graham was a smell test. They have a wooden box with 36 little glass vials in it, each filled with a different scent. Graham had to be able to smell and identify each of the scents... WITHIN A COUPLE SECONDS OF HIS FIRST SMELL! The scents were things like black pepper, onion, vinegar, potato, and all kinds of random other stuff. They have him do this because if any of these things are growing in the ground near a coffee plant, the coffee bean will absorb some of the scent and it will change the taste. In another test, they ground 3 different kinds of coffee beans and put them in three different cups with hot water. Then Graham had to tell them what kind of coffee it was just based on the smell... he wasn't allowed to guess, he had to know. He also has to be able to get exactly 22.5 grams into the portafilter 50 times in a row, and he has to tamp the coffee grounds down with 50 to 60 lbs of pressure so many times in a row. These are just a few of the many things Graham will have to be able to do to be one of the best of the best.
I like the people that work here a lot. I like the people that hang out here. The drinks are the best I have ever had... but I think the reason I come here is because I like to celebrate perfection... and that is what I see here. I believe perfection breeds perfection... just stop by and talk to Graham in a couple months, and see how great of a barista he will be then. I come here everyday and order my half Hazelnut, half Vanilla Latte in a white ceramic mug, and picture drinking in that perfection and attention to detail and letting it invigorate me to have the same qualities.
I think doing your best, and being the best at everything, is important. Whether you are making a cup of coffee, telling someone about Jesus and life and redemption, or sweeping the floor and cleaning the bathroom. We are supposed to do all things as if we are doing them for God himself. I want to be the kind of person that lives that out and I want to be around people that do that too... regardless of what they are doing or why they are doing it.
http://www.espressodellanatra.com/
Espresso isn't the Cadillac of coffee houses... they are a collaboration between Bentley and Ferrari. I come to Espresso dell'Anatra because they are the best of the best. They only get the best coffee beans, they only use milk from a local farm that is all natural and it is delivered everyday in glass bottles, and they are not making your espresso with a super-automatic monster like Starbucks... they have a 4 head semi-automatic machine that is constantly cared for like any high performance machine should be. There are three other baristas than Graham, all of whom know their stuff. We're not talking just knowing the menu and how to make the drinks... they know the history of the processes they are using to make the coffee, where, how, and when the beans they sell were grown, and everything else you could imagine wanting to know about the growing, drying, roasting, processing, selling, serving, and drinking coffee. Aaron, who owns Espresso dell’Anatra, is an award winning barista for both the quality of the drinks and the flair of 'latte art' (which is drawing pictures and patterns in the top of a latte by the way you pour the milk into it.) They are Bentley class with Ferrari flair.
Graham is being introduced into all of this... and I wouldn't want to be him right now. He has been working full shifts every day that are just training. Once again, it isn't just how to make the drinks; they are training his senses of smell and taste. One of the training sessions that I sat in on with Graham was a smell test. They have a wooden box with 36 little glass vials in it, each filled with a different scent. Graham had to be able to smell and identify each of the scents... WITHIN A COUPLE SECONDS OF HIS FIRST SMELL! The scents were things like black pepper, onion, vinegar, potato, and all kinds of random other stuff. They have him do this because if any of these things are growing in the ground near a coffee plant, the coffee bean will absorb some of the scent and it will change the taste. In another test, they ground 3 different kinds of coffee beans and put them in three different cups with hot water. Then Graham had to tell them what kind of coffee it was just based on the smell... he wasn't allowed to guess, he had to know. He also has to be able to get exactly 22.5 grams into the portafilter 50 times in a row, and he has to tamp the coffee grounds down with 50 to 60 lbs of pressure so many times in a row. These are just a few of the many things Graham will have to be able to do to be one of the best of the best.
I like the people that work here a lot. I like the people that hang out here. The drinks are the best I have ever had... but I think the reason I come here is because I like to celebrate perfection... and that is what I see here. I believe perfection breeds perfection... just stop by and talk to Graham in a couple months, and see how great of a barista he will be then. I come here everyday and order my half Hazelnut, half Vanilla Latte in a white ceramic mug, and picture drinking in that perfection and attention to detail and letting it invigorate me to have the same qualities.
I think doing your best, and being the best at everything, is important. Whether you are making a cup of coffee, telling someone about Jesus and life and redemption, or sweeping the floor and cleaning the bathroom. We are supposed to do all things as if we are doing them for God himself. I want to be the kind of person that lives that out and I want to be around people that do that too... regardless of what they are doing or why they are doing it.
http://www.espressodellanatra.com/
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
...on the Sparrow,...
There is a sparrow’s nest on the top of the door frame of the front door of our house. We don't come in and out of that door; we just use it to put Blink, our 65 pound Siberian husky, on his chain.
These birds built this nest the week we moved in. I tried to scare them away while they were doing it but they weren't having any of it. They pressed ahead, got it done and are now our roommates.
This morning, like every morning when I take Blink to put him on his chain, one of the sparrows buzzed me two or three times. I am standing there, six feet tall, holding a huge dog and this 3 ounce feathered nothing comes flying right at us. You would think that we would find behavior like this totally ridiculous or even comical, but it isn't... both the dog and I flinch every time. Blink will just up and snap at the birds sometimes, but I can see in his eyes when I go to let him back into the house that he is thinking, "Get me away from these crazy little things!"
The circumstances surrounding ministry here at Cornerstone really aren't the best... Like most things I've done in life, I didn't totally understand what I was getting into coming here. I believe we are in the right place but our attendance is very low and there have even been some people leave the church since we have been here, our financial situation would have to improve dramatically for me to even say, "it doesn't look good," and there seems to be no idea or motivation to do anything to fix these life threatening issues. I have stopped praying for help and begun to beg for it.
I do strategy very well... but this situation has me worried in ways I have never worried before. I am terrified of failure; I hate it. All I know is that we need a breakthrough. And in the middle of dealing with all this stuff those stupid sparrows just keep flying straight at us every morning.
I know I am bigger and stronger and smarter than those sparrows, and I am sure that they know that too. But they know that our front door is there place... they have claimed it and they are not willing to give it, come hell or Siberian husky. They know they will fight to protect the nest regardless of there opponent; yesterday I watched one of the sparrows chase a hawk around for 20 minutes. They are 3 ounces of purpose-driven fighter and I don't think they deal with failure well either. But instead of being afraid of it, or in spite of being afraid of it, they still fly straight at their opponents every time.
God knows every time one of those brave little birds falls...and probably every time one of them doesn't. I wish I was more like the sparrows... regardless of my circumstances, anything but helpless.
“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." --Civilla D. Martin
These birds built this nest the week we moved in. I tried to scare them away while they were doing it but they weren't having any of it. They pressed ahead, got it done and are now our roommates.
This morning, like every morning when I take Blink to put him on his chain, one of the sparrows buzzed me two or three times. I am standing there, six feet tall, holding a huge dog and this 3 ounce feathered nothing comes flying right at us. You would think that we would find behavior like this totally ridiculous or even comical, but it isn't... both the dog and I flinch every time. Blink will just up and snap at the birds sometimes, but I can see in his eyes when I go to let him back into the house that he is thinking, "Get me away from these crazy little things!"
The circumstances surrounding ministry here at Cornerstone really aren't the best... Like most things I've done in life, I didn't totally understand what I was getting into coming here. I believe we are in the right place but our attendance is very low and there have even been some people leave the church since we have been here, our financial situation would have to improve dramatically for me to even say, "it doesn't look good," and there seems to be no idea or motivation to do anything to fix these life threatening issues. I have stopped praying for help and begun to beg for it.
I do strategy very well... but this situation has me worried in ways I have never worried before. I am terrified of failure; I hate it. All I know is that we need a breakthrough. And in the middle of dealing with all this stuff those stupid sparrows just keep flying straight at us every morning.
I know I am bigger and stronger and smarter than those sparrows, and I am sure that they know that too. But they know that our front door is there place... they have claimed it and they are not willing to give it, come hell or Siberian husky. They know they will fight to protect the nest regardless of there opponent; yesterday I watched one of the sparrows chase a hawk around for 20 minutes. They are 3 ounces of purpose-driven fighter and I don't think they deal with failure well either. But instead of being afraid of it, or in spite of being afraid of it, they still fly straight at their opponents every time.
God knows every time one of those brave little birds falls...and probably every time one of them doesn't. I wish I was more like the sparrows... regardless of my circumstances, anything but helpless.
“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." --Civilla D. Martin
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