A Carrot, an Egg and a Cup of Coffee?

Dear Friends,

I do not particularly care for coffee. When I drink it, I have to “doctor it up” with milk and sweetener. I do like eggs and carrots—though carrots are not my favorite vegetable. But after reading the following, I can learn a good lesson from the coffee bean. I hope you can as well.

A Carrot, an Egg and a Cup of Coffee

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her into the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She then pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what do you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, and as she tasted its rich aroma the daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water—but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting in boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. “Which are you” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do your respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean”?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or am I a coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are the greatest, do you elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity?

-gardenplum.com, the column vine

ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG OR A COFFEE BEAN?

I hope you enjoyed this and it made you think. It sure has me thinking—I want to be a coffee bean!
Have a good week!
Fr. Martin