Okay, I like coffee. A lot. I like it black with just one spoonful of sugar. As Mary Poppins sang, “Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way!” But that’s not the only way I like it. I like it with those little creamers that are supposed to mimic Vanilla Cream and Amaretto and Irish Cream and whatever. I like coffee. I really do.
I liked the coffee in Brazil and I liked the coffee in Portugal. I liked the little bitty coffee that they served in the shot-glass looking thing and called it cafezihno. I thought that it was too tiny to be of any use, but when that concoction hit my lips…it was zihno, baby. I felt like Popeye popping his first can of spinach. I was ready dar luta com o diabo.
Alas, I believe that I am now addicted. Usually, I could go without coffee for extended periods with no physical symptoms. It was as if I were impervious to its side effects. But this weekend I went without coffee, and I got a headache. A serious headache. I never get headaches. I took a Tylenol and got better, but down deep I knew what was wrong. It was the call of coffee. I had not had my fix of the sweet bitter black, and I was suffering for it.
Is it sin to be so horribly hooked on coffee? Should I tear myself away from this love of the drink? If I do, it shall certainly hurt both heart and head.
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Two Voices
12 years ago
6 comments:
i love coffee too. i love them strong. in fact im having one now. must have one every morning.
I do not drink coffee, so my opinion comes with that caveat.
I think there is nothing wrong with drinking coffee - it certainly isn't a sin, but there --is-- something wrong with searing your conscience.
Even if we allow ourselves the intellectually dishonest notion that a caffiene headache is -not- a withdrawal symptom, we are still left with the certain knowledge that something on earth has our affection.
That is all fine and easy for me to say, not having a coffee addiction - but if I was asked to give a serious opinion, I would say you are better off to give it up altogether.
Dan
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It is a nasty thing to try to get off of...I had to give up my small habit...not an everyday one, but Cafe Vienna (you know that lovely stuff that is more chocolate than anything else) was mine! And when you end up with high blood pressure, you get to give up all coffee...and tea, other than herbal.
But my hubby is sorely addicted. HE never even touched it till in his 40's and that was so he could stay awake at work and at school and get by on little sleep. He was also addicted to coke...drank it warm and at least 2 liters or more a day. But with having diabetes now ...well, that is long gone, but he still feels he must have the coffee to even get his digestive track moving properly. He does water it down compared to most...but he too gets headaches if he tries to skip it. He actually did get off for awhile one time and then his dad arrived, coffee pot in hand and began making gobs of it, all day long...and got him hooked again. I have not even tried to get him to quit nor offered to help again.
If you can get off it...more power to ya...it gets harder I think with age to do so! Plus you may have to cut back drinking it anyway with the price of it these days...double what it was not so long ago...and I understand to go higher too.
Elizabeth
It's a strange addiction, because it doesn't get more demanding. I used to drink about four cups of coffee per day, and as I grew older I found it disrupted my sleep. I cut down to two, and was just fine. But any time I tried giving up one of them, I got the awful headache which I know is caffeine withdrawal. And I became SO tired.
Eventually I decided two cups of coffee is not extreme. Yes, I'm addicted in the sense that I need them: one to start the day, one right after lunch to start the afternoon. But I don't crave coffee any other time. It's not physically harmful in this quantity, and I don't drink them particularly strong, or even sweetened.
I certainly don't believe drinking coffee as such is sinful any more than drinking alcohol is sinful. The question is how much it affects you, whether it causes any harm, or whether the overall effect is positive. That differs from person to person depending on metabolism and personality.
Could it be more about your motivation? You are not attempting to alter your state of conciousness (except that you be awake more?), not attempting to drown out your problems, not attempting to 'look cool', right?
I drink coffee in the winter. In fact, I started this week. But, I can't go without a Dr Pepper for a day. Therefore, I may be partial to saying these minor addictions are not wrong. They may be. I know someone addicted to Twinkies.
I reminds us of our fallen nature, and the glorious freedom in the gospel- and of our longing to put these thorn-filled bodies aside in return for new bodies. But is that enough? I don't know. In fact, now you made me feel convicted.
Daniel:
Give it up? Are you mad?! I love the Precious!
Colin: My motivation is certainly not to look cool. (Did you see my frog picture?) Truly, I just love coffee. I think that it is an apt metaphor for life: There's a little sweet mixed in with the bitter.
Elizabeth and Sue: Should I just go *gulp* decaf?
Mr. Loobz: Addict! :)
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