“Listen to your life.  See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.” Frederick Buechner

“God comes to us disguised as our life.”

I’ve started occasionally visiting a local Starbucks early in the morning to get a coffee.  It’s one of those that are located in a grocery store.  Tiny and tucked away as you enter.  I don’t buy the floofy drinks, the caramel macchiato pumpkin spice nutmeg hazelnut cinnamon, or whatever the flavor of the season is.  I just get black coffee.  I love the touch of the warm cup on a cold day, the smell of the roasted beans that make my olfactory sense dance, and the bold almost bitter taste of the luscious liquid.  But what I most enjoy about that coffee, and what causes me to keep going back and spending far too much money than what it is worth, is Nathan, the barista.

Nathan is a big guy.  A really big guy!  Think college football lineman big.  I don’t know what he looks like other than that, cuz he wears his green coffee apron and a face mask, also green, that has some sort of face on it that is neither frightening or comforting—just kind of different.  I would guess that he’s in his late 20’s or early 30’s.  This gig seems to be his career.  Nathan greets each customer with a hearty and somewhat high-pitched “good morning”.  When asked how he’s doing, he responds “gloriously”.  I wonder what it is that could make being a barista, dealing with the demanding public, getting coffee “just right”, glorious?  No doubt Nathan loves people.  But more important, it seems he just loves life.  What makes his day, his life, glorious, is simply that he is alive.  I think.

I don’t really know for sure.  Because I’ve not had a deep discussion with Nathan about what his life is really like.  Maybe he has a horrible home life. Maybe he’s faced terrible tragedy or experienced devastating disappointments.  Or on the other hand, maybe he’s had a marvelous life. Maybe he inherited a bunch of money and is independently wealthy and does this job as a hobby.  I don’t know.  I don’t know what his life is like, or what he believes about life. 

I also don’t know what he believes about God.  Maybe he is a Christian who sees his work as a way of washing the feet, figuratively speaking, of people.  Or maybe he doesn’t believe anything about God, or not much anyway.  Maybe his term for god is “energy” or “universe” or “love”.  Or maybe it’s coffee!  I’m not sure it really matters what Nathan believes about God.  What matters is that God believes in Nathan. And because God believes in and loves Nathan, God is serving mounds and mountains of grace and love in each cup of coffee Nathan serves.  Read that quotation by Buechner again.  That’s Nathan.  That’s Nathan’s life.  He’s serving more than coffee.  He’s serving cheer and good will and dare I say grace? He puts a smile on people’s faces, not simply because he’s getting them their coffee, but because he’s serving it with love and joy and laughter and a light heart.  Did I mention that the name “Nathan” means gift of God? And that is what Nathan is doing—gifting people with God.

When I go there I like to sit at a little table and read.  It’s an excuse to watch Nathan and listen to him interact with his customers.  To be in the presence of such joy and love.  It’s like a little taste of eternity right there in that cup, at that table in that Starbucks with the big-hearted Barista named Nathan.  It is a time to listen to life.

What part of your life are you listening to?

Who is your Nathan?

How might we be a Nathan to others, in our lives?