Friday, March 27, 2020
Is It Worth It?
You can get a taste of it in Santa Monica for about 75 bucks, but if you want to buy a pound of the “beans” from which it is brewed you will pay around $3,000. It is called Kopi Luwak and is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. But, is it worth it?
Many customers might be appalled if they knew a little more about this prized drink. Instead of being made from traditionally harvested coffee beans - picked right off coffee plants - the beans are harvested from the droppings of a civet that lives in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The civets eat coffee berries, digests the outer pulp and then pass the beans in their feces. The feces have been described to look something like a PayDay candy bar.
According to one source, “enzymes and other chemicals in the animal's digestive tract react with the protein in the beans, eliminating much of the bitterness present in most coffees and creating a highly appealing flavor, despite how it came to pass.” The feces are dried, thoroughly cleaned, and then roasted, before being packaged for market.
No thank you. It may be the rave, but it’s not for me. Kris Kolbu warns, “The problems with Kopi Luwak today are serious for so many reasons, it’s a miracle there is still a market for it. First of all, more than 80% of all coffee sold as Kopi Luwak today is fake. It hasn’t even been near a civet cat, much less through one. Should you, however, manage to get your hands on the real deal, you’ll be drinking what amounts to nothing short of liquid suffering.” (nordiccoffeeculture.com)
The point is that sometimes we pay much more than something is worth:
· We speak our mind and it costs us a relationship.
· We engage in a reckless romance and it costs us our marriage.
· We throw caution to the wind, get drunk and our behavior hurts or kills someone.
· We cheat today and pay dearly tomorrow.
Jewish Wisdom Literature puts it this way: Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe. Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted. (Proverbs 2:11-12 NLT)
Wise people make the extra effort to look a little more closely at what all is involved. Discriminating choice is a powerful thing. When someone has the confidence and poise to pass by things that are too expensive, unethical, or shady, even if they are faddish, politically correct, or temporarily improve social standing, their choices can be life-changing. Sometimes the choice that brings the best value is the choice to pass up something expensive - something that has been over-valued. Very often the most popular and coveted things - the things everyone is raving about - are just not worth it!
Friday, March 20, 2020
A Mighty Fortress
Few people have impacted the religious world as much as the fourteenth century German professor of theology, Martin Luther. He is often referred to as the father of The Protestant Reformation. He wrote eight books and many articles and pamphlets. He translated the Bible into German and composed thirty-six hymns. But his impact came with a high price tag that caused him to run to God, as his fortress.
Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507, received his doctorate in 1512 and soon became a member of the faculty of the University of Wittenberg. Shortly, he took issue with several practices of the Roman Catholic Church. So, in 1517, Luther did what intellectuals of his day did when they wanted to have an open academic discussion and posted his, now famous, Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Whittenburg Castle.
Times were ripe for change and Luther helped trigger a movement to reform the church. It would grow and become known as “The Reformation.” The church did not respond well to these efforts. In 1520 Pope Leo X demanded that Luther renounce his writings against the church. The next year the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V did the same thing at the Diet of Worms. During this process Luther did a lot of prayer and soul searching. This was his answer to those authorities:
“I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me.”
His refusal to recant resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Holy Roman Emperor.
Martin Luther fled for his life and was hidden in Wartburg Castle. The castle served as his physical fortress, and God became his spiritual fortress. It is in the castle that Luther’s hymnal was created. It was published in 1524 and many reformers began singing his hymns. A Jesuit priest of his day was heard to say, “The hymns of Luther killed more souls than his sermons.”
You may recognize the hymn below which Luther first released in 1529. It was based on Psalms 46 and titled "A Mighty Fortress is our God.” Louis Benson said, “It was sung in the streets, by poor Protestant emigrants on their way into exile, and by martyrs at their death.” In 1544, when war broke out between the Catholic and Protestant states, the song was heard on the battlefield over and over again. It had become the vanguard of the Reformation. As you listen to the lyrics you will sense the author’s passion and recognize that he must have spent some quality time with God.
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow'r are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us;
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly pow'rs, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth;
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
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