Starbucks

I just returned from a trip to Marquette, Michigan. Marquette is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Go look at a map. Find Marquette. Do you notice how all major highways end before they get to the U.P.? The nearest interstate is like four hours away. We set foot outside this sleepy city and got lost in the woods. I'm not kidding. You're in the middle of two seas- the freshwater sea that is Lake Superior to the north, and the sea of trees that is, well, pretty much everywhere else. Pines and birches and poplars and maples whizz by, for hours, and you'll want to fall asleep at the wheel, just to put yourself out of your misery. You need a cup of coffee. But you're in the middle of nowhere, where can you turn? A man can only subject himself to so many Creamy French Vanilla Cappucinos from the Holiday station.

Luckily, there is a Starbucks in Marquette. The civilized world just got a whole lot closer with the sight of that wondrous green logo. You exhale a sigh of relief, grab your travel mug and walk in to order a triple grande soy no whip mocha, requesting that they rinse the inferior Holiday residue from your mug so as not to taint what is good and holy.

I used to hate Starbucks. They're too big, I said. Their coffee is burnt. Their stuff tastes like crap. They feast on third-world countries, I said. And they're EVERYWHERE. Yes, I used to hate Starbucks.

Then I matured into their coffee. I realized they don't feast on third-world countries... rather, they cultivate them. Their drinks taste great, and that funky, Euro-modern feel? Cool. And then I realized for the first time- these guys are EVERYWHERE. When you need a good cup of coffee, when you need to meet someone somewhere, when you need a place to chill for awhile, a place to have down-to-earth human contact, there's a Starbucks for you. Find me a more consistent cup of coffee that you can find practically anywhere you are. It's an amazing thing.

Starbucks can be overdone, absolutely. Too many four-dollar mochas will rack up the pounds, as well as leave a large hole in your wallet. But with everything in life, moderation is key. You can eat too much health food. You can spend too much time at church. You can watch too much football. Yeah, I know.

Let's go back to church for a moment, shall we? God is everywhere. He can be really divinely annoying sometimes, too, because of His omnipresence. But you know that He's there, right? When you need Him more than the air you breathe, He's on every street corner, in every strip mall, even as close as your kitchen cupboard, right? And so it is, to a significantly lesser extent, with Starbucks.

So in a quite literal, worldly way, Starbucks is indeed the God of coffee.

Spoken like a true Starbucks partner, right?