Coffee and Sacred Spaces

I drank less than a quarter of my drip coffee this morning. It was a hearty cup at a local shop in Columbia, SC, a total of $3.50. Admittedly, I didn’t really need the caffeine. I came for a place to think, dwell, and be. $3.50 was the cost of renting a bit of space and time for me.

Beyond their immediate utility, coffee shops become sacred spaces when treated as such. Even without a building, coffee is a medium and passive facilitator of sacred space. The phrase “let’s get coffee” is synonymous with initiating and/or furthering relationships. We work through conflict, increase knowledge, pray, relate, update, plan, and slow down all in the midst and with the help of coffee. Coffee is a stimulant, yes, but it also gets us to just sit down together awhile. It gives us wings and grounds us simultaneously.

If you think I’m making too big a deal of one drink, especially in comparison to other substances and beverages we’ve fervently consumed throughout history, just check out the incredible origin of coffee as a drink (read our other post “The Good History of Coffee”). There are beautiful roots to coffee, most notably in facilitating prayer. I’m almost certain Jesus would have drank it.

Beyond the coffee shops, there’s nothing like being offered a coffee in someone’s home, or starting the day off in silent heart-prayer with a fresh cup in hand. I think of my Pops, making twilight decaf for himself to facilitate living-room conversations with friends under warm lamp-glow, or starting the day with friends and family on vacation yawning around that central morning drink. Of all beverages, coffee has an uncanny ability to wake our minds and hearts to one another, to assist in creating sacred spaces.

Written By: Bryce Timmons