Coffee Percs

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

I picked up some sticks for a fire and dug out the old coffeepot and coffee. Seems like I’ve had that pot forever, but really only a few years now.”
                         –D.C. Adkisson  (Mal de Ojo)

Whoooeeee, Pard!  This is a busy week.  School’s out for one, but that don’t rightly affect me much anymore.  Then there’s the birthday week.  Yep, on Sunday we start the spring celebrations of birthdays with that of Kimberly’s.  Then later on in the week will be Annie’s.  Nope, I’m not bakin’ a cake.  But, that’s not all.  Just heading out for the countryside, the bluebonnets are amazin’, at least here in our part of Texas.
       Seein’ those bluebonnets and other flowers rise up from the ground just has to bring a smile to the face.  They only come ’round once a year, stay for a while then gone, poof, until next year.  Makes me wonder how many times God allows the weeds to grow around us and we grumble and complain, but then all of a sudden, hidden in those weeds is a touch of color–they bloom into gorgeous wildflowers.
       Now, Pard, get yuh a big swaller, ’cause this ol’ fence post just might beller out an’ sing.  I was readin’ the other day, “The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove Is heard in our land.” That’s verse 12 of the second chapter of Song of Solomon.  But then I remember another verse, “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”  That there is from the Prophet Isaiah.  Those pretty flowers don’t stay around long.  They bring us a smile but soon they fade away.  See, Pard, we ain’t to be puttin’ our trust in this ol’ natural world.  Not in yur life, for it might look good, but it’s only for a short season.  But we should be holdin’ tight to the the holy writ.  That’s somethin’ that yuh can be sure won’t be goin’ poof.

       Yuh be hearin’ me Pard.  Enjoy the bloomin’ of the flowers; enjoy the legitimate temporary things, but cling to the Word of the Lord.  In the long run it seems that the Rock of Ages is more of a sure thing than them delicate flowers.  Just like you?  Pshaw, yur about as delicate as an old piece of leather the dog’s been a chewin’ on.  An’ I might add, twixt as dumb, for I keep havin’ to remind yuh to be checkin’ that thar cinch of yurs.
         Vaya con Dios.

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He nodded toward the coffee pot. ‘You know where it’s at.’ The coffee was hot and dark, sparking new life into his soul.”

                    –Cliff Hudgins  (Viejo and the Hunted Ranger)
 
Step in this kitchen, I’ve some “Black Gold” a-brewin’.  Been waitin’ for yuh so as to take the first sip.  Ahhh, sure does make the ol’ gizzard jump for joy.  I’m a-tellin’ yuh, Pard, it just revives the soul, an’ almost tickles a body pink tastin’ that mornin’ brew.
       Speakin’ of revivin’, I’m sure yuh’ve read of Asbury and the revival takin’ place there.  Yuh know, that’s not too far from one of the largest revivals in American history took place.  Yep, down at Cane Ridge; it was part of the Second Great Awakenin’.  See yuh come for coffee, an’ got a free history lesson a throw’d in.  But I reckon its a real sure revival.  But yuh know, to muh way of thinkin’ revival may be of different sorts.  It’s a way that the Holy Spirit goes to stirrin’ people up, whether individual or a group.
       Revival, or a wonderful refreshin’ that causes people to seek the Lord.  See, I’m a-thinkin’ that a person should always be revivin’ themselves.  For example, when partakin’ of the Lord’s communion table, a body should be checkin’ his ownself–takin’ inventory of his life and if need be revivin’ it to the place where it ought to be.  Pard, and yuh listen, this ol’ fence post commences to think that we should continually be refreshed, sorta like havin’ an spiritual artesian well flowin’ up inside, a bubblin’ and gurglin’ all the time.  But that’s jist me a thinkin’.  Now, Pard, don’t get me wrong, I know that there are corporate revivals, why I’ve been to several in my span of years.  There are also those magnificent national revivals, some lasting only a short time while the influence of others a generation or more.  Ol’ Jonah preached, the king heard, and the city of Nineveh went into revival.  Cayn’t yuh just imagine ol’ Joe a kneelin’ and prayin’ for that to happen in that grand city on the Potomac?
       Go ahead, don’t mind me, sure go on, pour yurself another cup.  Now, the revival in Asbury–is it an awakenin’?  I don’t rightly know Pard.  Yuh see, an awakenin’ is something that changes society, that brings back godly morals and values.  We won’t know the effect of the revivals happenin’ for years to come.  Will they awaken America?  Oh, Lord, that they will–let him who has ears hear, as the Bible says.
       Maybe Pard, jist maybe that these here revivals springin’ up is a warnin’ call to America.  Jist like Jonah preached to Nineveh, “wake up, judgment is comin’!”  Will we heed?  Or perhaps, it is part of that last great call before the trumpet sounds.  Hmmm, come to think of it, I thought I heard the sound of horses bein’ gathered up there in the heavenlies.  But here’s the bottom line, an’ yuh be a-listenin’.  The important thing is whether or not yur heart is revived–refreshed.  It should be on-goin’ jist like yuh checkin’ yur cinch before yuh mount.
        Vaya con Dios.

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

I am not feeling right, but this coffee will make a new man of me. You make the best coffee in the world.”

                     –James Oliver Curwood  (In Honor of the Big Snows)
 
Pard, there’s somethin’ to be said ’bout good coffee.  Well, for that matter, there’s somethin’ to be said ’bout most any coffee.  I came across something the other day that said coffee is a healthy drink.  It helps the body operate on a normal basis, whatev’r that is, and to my way of thinkin’ it helps the soul rest in contemplation.  However, it said that to add any moo-juice to it, or any thing in the form of cream–cow, goat, moose or otherwise that it destroys all the good of the coffee for yur system.  Why, Pard, I’ve been tellin’ yuh that for years.  Drink the honest-to-goodness brew.
       Now, I didn’t bother listenin’ to the rest of the story.  Hard for me to sit through those spiels, those things called podcasts.  Just let me read it.  I can read faster than I can listen to those yokels talk, then at the end I find that I wasted my time, and at my age, time is an important commodity.
       But back to the idea of purity.  Yuh might recall reading regarding the ingredients of the “holy anointing oil.”  It had to be made of special ingredients, pure ingredients, mixed just right with nothin’ else added.  A person wouldn’t go puttin’ no goat’s milk in it, nor substitute another ingredient.  There was a right way to make it, with no additives or preservatives.  Like that coffee yur drinkin’ this mornin’, just the pure perkin’ of the bean.  Ahhh, the aroma almost lifts yuh out of any mully-grubs yuh might have been in.
       Yuh know, I’m thinkin’ that’s one reason the Lord wants us to worship in spirit and in life.  Don’t add anythin’ to the work of the Holy Spirit.  Let Him be pure in yur life.  Go ahead, Pard, yuh can drink while I’m explainin’.  That’s why the Lord said, “blessed are the pure in heart.”  He means the heart has no additives to it, that it’s wholly set apart for Him.  The heart’s to be like that thar coffee yur a-drinkin’–pure.  A pure heart delights the Lord, just like pure coffee delights yur gizzard.
       Be thinkin’ of that this here comin’ week.  Yuh do know that another month will pass us by.  Sure is true that time flies, an’ the older yuh get, it goes faster.  Why I remember….ha, guess I’ll save that story for another time.  Yuh be careful, now–there’s hostiles out there and wolves seekin’ to devour the unawares and weak.  Yuh be checkin’ that cinch, so’s yuh don’t fall prey to any of them ferocious critters.
          Vaya con Dios.

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He haunted the coffeepot until it came to a full boil. He poured in cold water to settle the grounds, then dipped out a cup and began to drink it, disregarding its scalding heat.”

                         –Elmer Kelton  (The Day the Cowboys Quit)
 
Good mornin’ to yuh, Pard.  Welcome to my humble abode.  Cup’s on the table an’ if yuh hold it up I’ll fill it for yuh.  Careful yuh don’t drop it or yuh’d have a coffee break.  Ha, thought I’d try to make yuh smile this mornin’.  
       Folks tell me that I need to smile for my pictures or that I need to smile.  Why Pard, I’m smilin’ all the time, in fact, I’m sometimes downright hee-hawin’ at the stupidity of some folks out there.  Thing is if some of their antics were so shameful and sinful they would be for sure incredibly hilarious.  Yuh remember the story about the pig that they cleaned up, washed him all up, put a pretty little pink bow on him and started callin’ him a lamb?  They would stroke his make-believe wool, say “baa baa” and flit around him.  They next mornin’ upon wakin’ they couldn’t find their cute little pet “sheep.”  They went throughout the house and then into the barn.  Finally, they saw, at the edge of the pig slop, a pretty pink bow.  They looked closer and couldn’t believe what they saw; there was their little “sheep” back in the hog wallow.  Yuh see, yuh can’t change the way God made creatures and man is the same way.  No matter the environment, no matter the education, no matter the money, no matter how hard o’ Henry Higgins works on a person, they are still sinners and need a new heart.  That only comes from bein’ born again, acceptin’ the Lord Jesus Christ.
       There my preachifyin’ is done for the day.  With that, my coffee’s done got cold.  I’ll swaller it down fast, hate to waste good coffee.  Yuh did leave enough in the pot for me?
Say, if’n yur in the area stop by Calvary Christian Academy this evening for a BBQ dinner.  The money goes for the kids’ trip to competition later in the spring.  If’n yuh come be sure an’ check yur cinch before headin’ out.  
          Vaya con Dios.