Susan LaffertySimple shelter. Close quarters with eclectic decor. Spare furnishings.
She welcomes us in. And starts the fire on a small charcoal stove. Takes her sauce pan and pours in the green coffee beans, newly washed.
And so it begins.
The slow, deliberate way of an Ethiopian coffee ceremony.
Traditional hospitality. With laughter. And conversation about life.
Daily and eternal.
The words of Isaiah resonate.
“Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far off.
For truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty cannot enter.
Truth is missing,
and whoever turns from evil is plundered.”
Isaiah 59:14f
It sounds like a reading of our day.
Back in the day we studied our stress by listing losses. Marking life experiences.
All the cross-cultural moves. Illnesses. Births. Deaths. Evacuations.
Added up, the numbers were telling.
Stress levels confirmed.
