tasting a narrative

Hey Hey. I thought I would try a new look for my journal. I really like it. I also thought i would sit down in the collegium today, with half a pot of "kick ass", and "miracle fortress" playing in the background. This really is one of those great moments of life.

Speaking of great moments; I have offically tasted the worlds rarest coffee. And here is a fantastic story to go along with it- A pastor friend of mine invite me to his church yesterday to try out this "rare" coffee he had bought on wholesale. being the coffee freak i am, i took him up on his offer... and I invite a girl that I like (but that is a different, proabably more interesting, story). This rare coffee was from Indonesia, and named "Kopi Luwak".

Kopi Luwak coffeee is regarded as the worlds rarest, and most expensive coffee, in the world. At retail, the coffee sells for $200-$400 a pound. This coffee is grown and cultivated on the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia (arguably, the place where the finest coffees of the world are found).

Now heres how the coffee is produced. On the island of Sumatra there is a species of cat-like mammal called the Palm Civet. At night Palm Civets forage through coffee bushes, eating only the finest coffee fruits. It is said that the animal will starve to find just the right berries.

The Palm Civet is known to have a unique digestive system, which is only able to process the "fruit" part of the coffee berries. So, the bean of the coffee fruit is then "excreted". So farmers will search for the feces of this animal to harvest the rare beans.

So, the coffee is essentially Civet crap. And I drank that yesterday. Ah ha ha ha! (i love being a coffee lover).

The story, as the pastor explained, illustrated a profound point about faith. When God chooses to work He doesen't choose the best, the most perfect, means. He chooses the refuse of life.

One story the pastor told was of how Jesus once spit in the sand to heal a man's blindness. And if you think about it, spitting is one of the greatest insults you can inflict at another person. In that story the worst was used for the best means.

And i took this as a humbling lesson. We don't need to be perfect, or aspire to be perfect, in our characters. Somehow, God works in the ugly and awkward places in life- in the dirt, the crap, and the places where we don't think He belongs.

and this all started with a small cup of coffee. In the same way that a Civet's crap can produce the world's finest coffee, we can find the most beautiful moments of life in the crap of life... the moments of being human, and trying to feel loved.

as far as the flavor of the coffee is concerned, here is my critique-

um, it wasn't, like, the most spectacular coffee i have ever tasted. but the aroma was absolutel alluring, and sensuous - unlike any aroma i have smelled before. oh yeah. the coffee had a distinctive Sumatra flavor. I can't really think of any way to describe other than just saying "Sumatra".

I'll explain it to you later... over some chai. I need a break from coffee.