‘Tea for Two’

In my 20s, I developed a taste for hot tea. I quickly learned I better soak the tea bag or tea leaves for three minutes or more. If I rushed the steeping, it was disappointingly flavorless. That delicious peppermint, peach or chai taste I wanted was missing.

Any health benefits such as antioxidants were also in absentia. And if I was seeking an energy boost, cutting short the steeping time resulted in minimal caffeine.

A speaker I heard found a clever use for the labels and threads you’ve seen attached to tea bags. She affixed them to sturdy paper, creating bookmarks which she handed out at an event designed for women who worked outside the home.

“You’re busy. You may be tempted to rush the time you spend with God to hurry off to work or a meeting. When you do that, it’s like drinking weak tea,” she said.

“Weak tea,” it turns out, is slang for something which is particularly underwhelming. So, instead of a powerful message from the Lord that makes my heart sing – or that stirs my spirit to deep thought or a determination to act – I scurry off with my mind already on other things.

Instead of getting strength or guidance, I receive what? Something pale and unfulfilling. Why isn’t God speaking to me? Why does the Bible seem to lack oomph? Why don’t I experience much zeal? Hmm. Could it have something to do with failing to steep that teabag?

“I found out that grabbing my phone and reading one Bible verse doesn’t really cut it,” a friend told me. While I don’t always accomplish this, my goals when I set aside a “quiet time” are simple: Allow enough time for a) His Word to soak in; b) God to speak to me; and c) me to speak to Him.

I took a handful of those bookmarks home with me, and some still populate my home years later. They remind me of that speaker’s message. I think it jives perfectly with the author’s words in Psalms 119:13-16 in The Living Bible: “I have recited your laws and rejoiced in them more than riches. I will meditate upon them and give them my full respect. I will delight in them and not forget them.” (The word “laws” here simply means the Bible).

The word “meditate” may sound foreign to us these days, precisely because we busy ourselves so much. It means “to focus your mind and think deeply for a period of time to relax, pray and gain spiritual awareness.”

Todd Stocker wryly said “I wanted to figure out why I was so busy, but I couldn’t find the time to do it.”

When you set up your “teatime” with an open Bible, be sure to make the time to let it steep. Then you will drink a refreshing, healthy, zestful cup of “tea.” Savor it.