Be unique but.......

But also be unified!

As I woke up this morning and did morning prayer, I saw the line “whoever gives a cup of water in my name, as a follower of Christ, will never go unrewarded”. In the spirit of Mother (Saint) Teresa I was moved to write. It was through this gospel and Mother Teresa last year that I began to try to balance more charity with business, what I like to call and coined “Moral Capitalism”. There’s a beauty to our American system and the amount of prosperity in many different respects it has brought us and the world. We are truly the most blessed civilization and generation in history in many respects. Unbridled however it just creates greed on one side, and envy on the other. This divides us and then drives all types of fighting through politics usually.

I like to share my personal example. Often people would ask for a cup of water. Due to training I have had over the years where everyone nickel and dimes the customer and/or visitor, I would have angst every time someone expected a cup of water for free (or something similar). They act like it didn’t cost anything to produce. Not only does the cup cost money, the filter I have on my home or Deer Park water I purchased cost money, the new ice machine to produce more, etc. At the end, that cup could cost 50 cents. What is 50 cent in the bigger picture of life? This hit me after seeing Mother Teresa serve the poorest of the poor out of love for God, at that point today’s gospel for Sunday September 29, 2024 hit me today too, as it did last September.

As many have seen, my unique concept has gone full universal/catholic just as I originally envisioned, just not as I had planned. First I want to begin with coffee, since I am a business and this is a blog about business as a Catholic trying to inspire people to fish, instead of giving them a fish. Nowadays it’s evolved to taking others fish in the spirit of Marxism, socialism, communism, which is a confused view, of Catholic social teaching. Envy is usually at the root of this confusion.

I now brew coffee in 12 traditions and I have roasted from 53 different countries if my math is correct. In addition by the end of the month, I will probably be the few roasters in America, maybe the world who roasts from 4 different species of beans, regularly. There’s only 6 species of coffee in the world, the majority of which is Arabica, and second is Robusta. The other 2 I have, stenophylla and liberica are limited to certain regions of the world. Just like the Catholic Church, who’s goal is to assimilate to Jesus Christ, while remaining unique in their cultural traditions, my coffee company has become a fun reflection of this.

If I reflect the Church, and understand the Church is God, then I am reflecting God and His creative logic in His image. This is a radical point, I am really focusing in on, which aligns with this entire gospel and my philosophy in life and business. If we are all children of God, made in his image, and our families, especially through matrimony reflect this image of creation in it’s vast variety, then anytime we hurt or reject another, we are rejecting God. It’s why in my own little way I give that cup of water, and sometimes coffee to a person in need, because as Mother Teresa taught/inspired me, that every human being from conception to death is Jesus in that moment. This is the mercy (love in action), Jesus calls us to through sharing in our humanity.

Too often we take 1-5% issues/abnormalities and they are used to divide us. Whatever the topic, very often we use the exception of the rules, to break/ignore the rules/precepts. This essentially leads us to divide into fighting tribalism. As a Catholic who wants to always focus on the beam in my eye before I look at the splinter of another, I like to talk about the clergy scandal. John Jay College did a study, and found that abuses were not much different than that of teachers, law enforcement, or any other sector of life. If I remember correctly it as around 2-5% that abused their authority depending on the group. Most of us would agree we should reform within the parameters that created great success, since anything else leads to chaos as we see in our current society. Then it repeats itself over the centuries with political divisions, which often lead to confusion and society losing it’s way and faith for a short period. Despair and desolation however always turns us back to dependence on the Creator of our lives, the Lord/Logos/Creative logic.

This is why the Church for 2000 years has remained united, despite the divisions in the world that continue to grow. The “United” States of America in many respects reflects this image in their unity. Our history has been one of unity, where the founders realized despite some dramatic differences, we needed to be united if we were to be a successful experiment of freedom and liberty, from there society has frequently reformed. Like all things, there needs to be a disciplined practice of respecting a common law, the founders understood this, which John Adams great quote embodies “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people”

We often lose focus of doing good and remaining together, due to the behavior of others. This is the focus of the diabolical (divider) one. However Jesus Christ makes the promise He makes all things new and if something is done in His name, it is for the good of the Kingdom. Even the evil that is sometimes done in His name, can and will eventually become a blessing once we renounce it, as it will root out and cause that unhealthy branch to be pruned. My life was and continues to be a testament to that.

Consider reflecting, be still, and let God be God and sort out all of the strife around you. Life has shown me, with God at the center of all that I do, just like the Crucifixion, new life and creation is always a guarantee to follow no matter how dark it may seem. Jesus kept his followers unified, despite 1 of the 12 betraying him for political gain. Jesus showed mercy through this whole the entire time, despite knowing he had Judas, His betrayer present among the flock. The Lord still won and Judas was just replaced with Mattias. The other 11 who renounced their cowardly behavior, live on 2000 years later inspiring the world, unified in love, no matter how much the world tries to pretends it never happened.

A statue of St. Teresa of Calcutta, who saw mercy in serving the poor and abandoned of India.