So I fasted caffeine for Lent this year. I’ve never fasted anything for Lent before nor was it particularly spiritually motivated; I was just curious and had been drinking tons of coffee.
As expected, the first several days were monumentally hard to get through – sitting at my laptop I regularly battled sleepiness at work – but I lacked the infamous withdrawal headaches. I told myself that it would get better, that of course the beginning would be tough, and it did get better, but at an imperceptibly slow pace. By the end, I had sort of gotten used to it, and even considered (however briefly) continuing the fast past Easter.
Anyway, those are the facts. But what’s perhaps more interesting, at least to me, is what to make of it all. I started drinking coffee, and thus caffeine, in significant amounts sometime during sophomore year of college, I think. It was a combination of college and having free coffee at my internship. Then I really got into it after I came back from Germany at the beginning of 2009. I started making it myself and drinking it black. But all along, or even before I started drinking coffee in the first place, I had wanted to keep it to a minimum, to make sure it was something I did when I wanted not something I did in order to feel normal. I remember growing up watching my parents drink coffee every morning, setting the coffee maker to brew automatically before the alarm even went off, and thinking how I didn’t want to be like that. Well, in short, I think I’ve come to terms with being like that. I like coffee. I like the way it tastes. I like the habit and the occasion and the ritual of drinking it. I like caffeine. I like how it affects my mood and my general countenance towards the day. Yes, I can live without it, but I think that’s like saying I could live without chocolate, or without Advil. Yeah. I don’t need it. But it makes my life better, so I’m going to enjoy it.
I’d love to hear feedback on this. As with most things I think about, my mind is yet to be fully made and my feeling on the matter is subject to discussion and change.
I’ve always been a bit cautious about coffee as well. But over the last few years, especially the last several months, the amount of coffee I drink as increased like crazy as I’ve taken more of an active affinity and appreciation towards it and the effects of the caffeine. Rarely does a day go by that I don’t have at least one cup. I enjoy the taste, the habit, the ritual… everything about it that you do.
I like that you’ve fasted from it. And I like that you’ve decided to continue to enjoy it. But what I like most is that you’ve put a seemingly insignificant thing such as coffee and caffeine under some scrutiny in the first place. I feel like there are so many other things that we habitually do that could and should be put under the same type of examination. This process of simplification is something that I’ll spend some time doing in the next several weeks as I move from one stage of life to the next, and I’ll probably do it while drinking some good coffee.
Can’t wait to enjoy a cup with you soon.
I like this. Simple and to the point and a somewhat surprising conclusion. I have wrestled with this myself, never wanting to be enslaved to anything. I think, as Christians, we are told constantly about idols and things that could get in the way of God. So we worry about things like caffeine becoming an addiction rather than, well, actually talking to God or becoming intimate with HIm. Little things like “being addicted to coffee” have brought me so much guilt in the past it is almost laughable. Ironically, it seems to me that this guilt, which originated in wanting to be close to God, is representative of a heart that fears God but does not know the Father’s deep love.
To get back to the topic, I love how caffeine makes my mind alert and attentive. I get in that mode where I want to learn and take on the day. The one thing I have wrestled with (because I went off caffeine too for about 3 weeks) is that I don’t like thinking I need something to make me desire to take on life. I guess it makes me doubt the substance within me. Where is the passion and excitement for a life apart from a cup of coffee? Am I so mentally weak that I cannot overcome some fatigue to get on to the day that is before me. Will I, without my beautiful cup of Joe, resign to live a half-ass day because it is all that I can seem to muster? I have genuinely thought these things on multiple occassions, so I thought I would share. Maybe a bit deeper than you wanted, but that is me for you.
Miss you Johnny. Glad to connect even if through a blog.
The first time I read this, I was enjoying a smooth black cup of Berlin’s finest coffee… Now I am reading this again and I find myself drinking coffee again. I guess it’s time for a comment.
I have a theory: music lovers tend to be coffee lovers. Or more precise – people who know how to truly enjoy and appreciate music, also enjoy and appreciate, have a passion for coffee. (Or taking it to the extreme, one might even say: people with great taste in music, have great taste in coffee? Naw,… maybe too extreme.)
To support my theory, I name a true music lover and the music genius – J.S. Bach himself – who openly confessed his passion for coffee by composing a “Kaffeekantate” (1732) with the following lyrics:
Ei! wie schmeckt der Coffee süße,
Lieblicher als tausend Küsse,
Milder als Muskatenwein.
Coffee, Coffee muss ich haben,
Und wenn jemand mich will laben,
Ach, so schenkt mir Coffee ein!
We should do a Berlin coffee tour!
Since I am the inspiration to the coffee habit, I will confess I like it too! Being raised Catholic, I was very familiar with Lent. I hadn’t giving it any attention since I quit going to the Catholic church, but for some reason I used it as a starting and stopping point last year. Great minds think alike!! I started drinking coffee at my first job when I was 16 years old. I had to be at St. Otto’s nursing home at 6:00 AM on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Being a typical teenager, I usually didn’t get in bed until after midnight, soooooooo I needed the caffeine. I saw all the “old lady” employees sitting in the lounge drinking it. (I am sure those old ladies were younger than I am now) so there you have it….how my coffee habit started. I did determine after my fast, that the headaches I had been suffering from were NOT caffeine related. Although, I am sure it doesn’t help, but I have come to the conclusion that they come from stress. Ditto to Andrew, I cannot wait to have a cup of coffee with you soon myself, hopefully that won’t be very long……love and kisses. mom
Thanks for the thoughtful responses guys!
Dood, I have had the exact same thoughts about coffee and not wanting to become addicted to it. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s great in moderation (what a surprise!). I still plan not to become addicted, but I feel like I may drift that direction when I start working full time haha.