I’m part of a coffee shop sip club where I pay a small monthly fee for unlimited daily coffee. I can walk to this local coffee shop, and I rarely miss a day. Since I love a large, iced coffee and a refill (decaf refill), I could easily spend in one day what I spend in a month. But, this isn’t the greatest thing about my daily coffee shop escapade. Coffee shops have a culture, and I’ve become part of it.

I listen while at coffee shops, and even though an introvert at heart, I make friends. Today, as I was sitting outside sipping my iced coffee, an older gentleman of color was being interviewed a couple of tables down from me. He, the interviewer, and I were the only ones outside and I confess, I eavesdropped. The gentlemen answered the interviewer’s first question with a phrase that stood out. The populace practices indoctrination without investigation. Now, that is a deep and powerful thought. Indoctrination without investigation. He told the backstory.

He spoke of his life’s work of drug reform, begun after his trip to the morgue while in high school, identifying his mom who lay there from a drug overdose, naked. He spoke of how a boy doesn’t easily get over something like this, and how from that day forward his mission was to alleviate drugs. His research has since made him a proponent for legalizing drugs to gain more control over them. His goal was to alleviate drug abuse, but his investigation caused him to change his approach. As he spoke I learned some things about Nixon, the war on drugs, and the filling of the prisons. I don’t share this to share an opinion on his opinion, but I noted the wisdom of his observance of how easily people are indoctrinated without investigation. How true this is on so many levels, from politics to religion and everything in between. How important it is to be like “noble Bereans” who investigated the scriptures to see if what Paul was teaching them was true. That took personal effort and responsibility, and it still does.

 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11)

But this man is just one treasure from my coffee shop community. I love visiting with the regulars. Let me introduce you to some friends. (All names are changed since I didn’t ask permission) There’s Gerald, my 86-year-old professor emeritus friend with whom I have many conversations about all sorts of things, of late mostly about Jesus. And then there is my Peruvian friend, Maria, who has taken me on verbal journeys through her beautiful country. And my sweet friend Nancy, and her husband Larry. Larry has a disease accompanied by increasing dementia, and the coffee shop is somewhere he feels safe and familiar. Nancy worries about him, as life as a caregiver is hard. We share journeys, I pray for them, and also share some of my books with my friends, as appropriate and desired. Then there is my dog lover friend, Joanie, who brings gifts for my dogs. She’s going through a lot, with a recent house flood forcing them out of their home during renovation. She asks for prayers. And how I appreciate the wonderful staff behind the counter…Bill, Joey, Mary, and Jenny are kind, and it’s meaningful to learn  about their lives.

I have become more attuned these days to listening harder and connecting more often in ways I think Jesus would. I discover that each person is a treasure, created in God’s image….someone to learn from and to love. Everyone has a story, and somehow, we can find that we are interconnected. I appreciate MLK’s words, “It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” The African word for this interconnectedness is ubuntu. God desires and teaches that kind of love and unity, which is made possible through Jesus.

I used to be so busy that I too often failed to connect well with those surrounding me, sipping their cups of coffee.  But even when busy, I needed to learn to listen better. To see and notice people more fully. People are carrying a lot. Prayers, inquiries, encouragement, acts of service… all help. I love the treasures that become evident when getting to know people, and I love learning from them. People are pretty great. I know everyone, including me, has their downside, but when I remember that God created every person in his image, including me, it changes my perspective. Try listening extra closely today with the mindset of ubuntu, eager to see ways God is at work in it all.

(And if you get a chance, please check out my latest books, “Jesus The Master Teacher: Transforming Our Hearts” and “Re-Examining Our Lenses.” Available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle)