I love coffee shops. Part of this comes out of my love for coffee. Part of this is because it provides a forum to observe humanity as it enters. The music is rarely too loud. The environment is rarely less than inviting. The baristas are often friendly and if you stop in enough, they even know your name.
There is a sense in which a coffee shop will put up with anyone and almost anything. Granted, this probably has more to do with economics than a real love for people or a desire for community (though, I wouldn't necessarily say that this isn't the desire of the proprietor of a coffee drinking establishment).
Today, I sat and read in a place called The Green Line Cafe in university city. Hipsters came in and left. Speakers of foreign languages came in and left. A woman with children who were not her own came in and left. The children were loud and multicultural... and fun to watch. A “crazy” man came in, introduced himself to everyone, assured the baristas that he wasn't there to stir trouble (this time), and tried to set a date with some of the female patrons as he explained to everyone that he volunteers at the local V.A.
Today, I sat and read and drank coffee in the midst of humanity. I was reminded that I love coffee and that I love humanity in a way that my upbringing would have never allowed. That, my friends, is a peculiar grace through Christ, Jesus.
