Monopolizing Mocha Men

I went to Starbucks this morning… a changed woman since the last time I wrote. I walked in Starbucks as a college graduate who is employed, whose best friend is married, whose brother is headin’ to the Middle East, and whose schedule has finally died down enough to have Starbucks by herself… a month after her return from England.

On this rainy morning I ordered my new regular-- iced coffee w/ sugar free vanilla (it’s $2 cheaper than my old usual… so it’s become my new usual)—and went to find a place to sit. The tables were monopolized by about 15 older men and a 7 year old who were laughing and carrying on. So, I plopped in the only free oversized purple chair near the window, enjoying the world going on around me, the loud Starbuck's music, the clamour of the men’s laughter, the background conversations that they had with different people they knew that came in and out, and their talks about “the war”. I spent my hour letting my thoughts be thunk,:) resting, and sporadically reading SexGod where Rob Bell was talking about humanity and our equal value… the fact that no one is more or less important than anyone else and how our skewed view of various traits are so screwed up. Well, one of the ‘interruptions’ in my reading was the squeaking of a bunch of wooden chairs as the men began to head out. One men, the last one, with his 7-year-old grandson, said “I hope we weren’t too loud for you”

“Nope, there’s something restful about being around noise that you’re not involved in. I rather enjoyed it”.

After a warm and genuine, no-agenda invitation to sit with them and chat next time I’m in, I asked him how he knew the men. And this was the story he told me…

“Well, I used to come and bring my dogs three times a week. I would order my coffee and sit out side with my pups. Women would come in and out of the coffee shop and always stop to pet my dogs. These men were always inside and one morning one of them, Bud (Interruption: I (Casey) don’t remember his real name, but it was something that was charming and relaxed like Bud) came up to me and said, “Stop bringing your damn dogs; the women come in and out too quickly to see them, and we don’t get a good look at them. Next time, leave the dogs at home and join us.” So, I did. These men are great men and we meet up here three times a week. Some are old friends, some work out at the gym in the mornings together, (Interruption: I (Casey) pictured a few of them walking with their canes around the track :) , some just joined up when invited in, like me. They’ve become some my best friends.”

I was absolutely enthralled by this, and me being the off-version of my self lately, had tears sting my eyeballs as he said good-bye w/ his little Mocha-man-in-training. Because these men got some stuff: these men got community. These Mocha Men understood relationship with no agenda. These men knew how to connect with people and enjoy them. How to be available and unawkwardly invite. How to look for people who might just want a little interest.

And I don’t have any idea if they were Christians or not, but from a few funny little phrases I heard, it could be mixed. But one thing is for sure. These Monopolizing Mocha Men knew no bounds. I got the feeling while being around them that if I hadn’t showered in 9 days and wore ripped jeans and had a few tats and purple hair, we still would have had the same conversation, the same invitation, and the same interaction. Perhaps this isn’t true, perhaps it’s idealistic, but I don’t think it is. I had tears sting my eyes, because these people were loving well and I hadn’t seen a group of Christians, especially students (like myself), love like that. As Christians, we tend to be a little awkward and agenda-ish when we invite the person whose alone over to our table… if we see them at all in the midst of our theological discussions. We tend to be uncomfortably nice to new people. And I just am not sure that’s how Jesus or his men were. It made me wonder if the disciples and Jesus were much like the Monopolozing Mocha Men. They started small and loved well, but as they hung out at the community Starbucks of the 1st century, they saw some people and told them to get rid of their ‘damn dogs’ (excuse the French) and come inside and hang out. And that maybe their group grew a little more when they invited people during the pre-coffee morning walk around the track at the gym, and invited their oldest and dearest friends as well. And maybe the disciples formed little communities like this in everyday places by loving well and being committed to being available and were just somewhere three times a week at the same time. Maybe these Monopolizing Mocha Men were a picture of the potential modern day version of the disciples. And no matter these men's spiritual status (which is the first thing, us Christians tend to ask), I learned from them this morning and saw the possible power if some peeps got together like this with the Holy Spirit present, to reflect how Jesus loved well and hung out and invited people into this relationship with him that caused him to allow himself to be slaughtered so that he could have Starbucks with them... with no exclusiveness like before. And it was cool.

Maybe we, as disciples, were called to live a little more like the Monopolizing Mocha Men... maybe Jesus loves like them now, and maybe we are to love like them too.