I Can Smell the Coffee!

As many of you know, last March I came down with COVID-19 and was pretty sick for about three weeks. In fact, at times it felt like I’d never get better. Thankfully, I did. But one of the effects that has lingered with me for months has been the loss of my sense of smell. I remember how, over Easter weekend which was just after having been sick, Kim was baking an Easter bread and said, “Don’t you just love the smell of fresh bread baking?” to which I answered, “I don’t smell anything!” Then I realized that I couldn’t smell just about anything. Worst of all, I couldn’t smell my coffee brewing in the morning. In fact, I couldn’t even smell the coffee when I opened up the bag to make my morning coffee. For me, one of the best parts of my morning was gone!  

Well, it’s been that way since last March until…just the other morning, as I came down the steps to go to the kitchen and prepare my breakfast and get the coffee that I had programmed the night before to drip, it struck me: I could smell the coffee brewing! It was an amazing moment. I know it’s such a little thing, but for me it was a wonderful thing. After all, who doesn’t love the smell of coffee brewing in the early morning? Even Kim who doesn’t drink coffee loves the smell. Yes, a small thing, but a wonderful thing; a small thing that brings just a bit of joy and pleasure to my life! 

I wonder how many small things in life we take for granted until they are gone?  How many small things do we fail to realize are the things that bring bits of joy to our lives?  I think that too often we forget that much of life, the real joys and pleasures of life, are made up of small things. You know what I mean: drinking a cup of coffee while sitting and watching the birds at the birdfeeder; holding a grandchild on your lap and reading them their favorite story; watching a movie with your best friend while sharing a bag of popcorn; having dinner with your kids and hearing them tell about their day; smelling the coffee brewing in the early morning! And the list of small things that bring bits of joy to our lives can go on and on. 

The writer of Ecclesiastes had spent much of his life pursuing the big things of life. He thought that joy and meaning would be found in big accomplishments, big pleasures, big pursuits. But he found that in the end, they were meaningless. Thus, from a newfound perspective he wrote these words: “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 8:15 – NIV) Elsewhere he tells us to eat and drink with gladness, to “enjoy life with your wife, whom you love,” and “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” (Ecclesiastes 9:7, 9, 10)  In other words, don’t wait for the big things in life to bring you joy, for they are usually found in the small things, we might say, the everyday things, of our lives. 

What small things in your life have you taken for granted? What small things do you need to realize carry the real joys and pleasures of life? And, what small things in your life might actually be blessings from the hand of God? 

After all these months, I’m glad to be able to smell my coffee again…it’s something I will never take for granted again! 

Have a great day! 

- Pastor Tim Harris