New year’s resolutions are fine, really. But when a friend told me earlier this year he’s resolved to give up coffee, quite frankly he crossed a line.

I like coffee. Coffee is good and I’m sure there’s a sacred text somewhere that says so. To imagine my daily round without it is … well, it’s just unpleasant. For me, coffee is one of the small pleasures of the day, to sit with a well-made cup, preferably in a café where I feel welcome and at ease. Company is good, but optional. It’s me and the coffee and the place that matter most — companions of spirit.

On good days I claim coffee as part of my spirituality. That might be stretching it a bit for some, but surely these words by the English poet Steve Turner provide sufficient justification:

White with two sugars (please)

Coffee gives you a legal shot of energy
when your eyelids are feeling down.
Coffee kills time when you’re washed ashore
on the street of (the city).
(Coffee can even help rainstorms disappear.)

Coffee is something to dangle your lips in
when conversation is scarce.
Coffee is a good place to take a new friend.
(Coffee is an excuse to stay half an hour longer.)
Acquaintanceships end on the doorstep
but friendships begin with a coffee.

Coffee can be appreciated
by all generations.
Coffee is a multi-lingual,
multi-racial,
liquid esperanto.

Yes,
there’s something quite religious about coffee.