Cup of Tea

I love mint tea. When I was a little girl my mom would make mint tea for me when I was sick and it always made me feel better. She would pick the mint leaves, let them dry out so that we could make tea when needed. I thought that mint was the only type of tea there was. I didn’t get out much as a kid.

I’m about to tell a story on myself that will make me appear slightly foolish and naïve. I don’t mind laughing at myself. When I dated Tom, his mom’s favorite drink of choice was hot tea. When I seen her make her tea, I thought it was strange that she used a ready made tea bag. I didn’t know they came that way (I skipped that aisle in the supermarket). But I was horrified that she put milk in her tea. I mean milk in tea was unheard of in my home. I realized that she was drinking regular tea and not mint tea. That fact did ease my mind a bit. Was she wrong for drinking tea that way? Of course not, it tasted best that way to her.

I started to realize that tea came in many forms and various flavors. To this day I can’t drink any other type of tea but mint. I love the smells of some other teas like black raspberry and orange spice, but I don’t like the taste.

I started thinking that church is like a cup of tea. Most people love the church they are in or else they would go elsewhere. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I love our church and our people. We get lots of visitors, and some stay past worship and make it through the sermon. Many come back – they like our flavor of tea. Others come and they like the aroma but they don’t care for the way we taste – they don’t come back. That’s okay.

The body of Christ has many flavors and not everyone will like some of those flavors. It doesn’t make one wrong or the other one right, just different. What matters is that a person finds the cup of tea that they will find comfort in and enjoy the flavor. Go to where the life is for you. Just go. The important thing is that you’re drinking tea, not necessarily what flavor it is.

© Nadine Z. 2007