An instant happening, coming immediately, a precise moment, a very short space of time.
Instant Coffee Change
I had hoped this moment would never come but couldn’t avoid the reality. Coffee, including decaf, sent my urinary system into immediate distress. Tea and carbonated beverages, too. The tip-off? Experiencing the symptoms of an infection but testing negative.
Like most people, I knew acidic foods could aggravate the digestive system. But I’ve discovered acid-producing foods can cause acidity in one’s urine, too. Other dietary irritants: alcohol, apples, cantaloupes, chilies and spicy foods, citrus fruits, strawberries, vinegar, cranberries, grapes, peaches, pineapple, plums, tomatoes, chocolate, mayonnaise. Lots of much-beloved foods on this list, so I moderate and, for fruit, substitute low acid pears, apricots, or watermelon.
I made the coffee change the same way as when I cut my hair four and a half years ago, a precise moment of exchanging the old style with a new. Now, in a very short space of time, I heat up water in the microwave every morning, stir in a scant teaspoon of low-acid KAVA, and add half-and-half—I still like my coffee with milk or cream. It took me a day or so to adjust to the aftertaste, but now instant coffee is quite palatable. Maybe not an instant change, but close.
Not So Instant Reading Journey
Over the weekend, I started reading Tolstoy’s masterpiece War and Peace. The book, Keith’s copy, has been on my pile for years. We’ve watched several film adaptations together, so I know the story well. But reading the real thing—in translation—can be like slipping down an icy mountain road and losing one’s way. Not knowing whether to continue or turn back and abandon the daunting journey with characters who will suffer. Reading an epic story like this is about trusting the path.
As is reading a quiet story. Yesterday, I attended the book launch for a colleague, the first of our Memoir-in-a-Year cohort to publish her book. Not an instant happening but a life unfolding and a journey well worth taking.
As is reading Scripture.
Both Not So Instant and Instant Advent
Yesterday also marked the second Sunday in Advent, a time of waiting for the arrival. Our choir sang Andraé Crouch’s Soon and Very Soon—the sound kicks in just before the 30-minute mark.
God’s time often seems not so instant to those like me, living in this Instagram World. But His time is not ours. And when He comes again, we’re told that precise moment will be an instant happening, an unavoidable reality, the ultimate change—the old for the new—in a very short space of time.
Soon and very soon. A long hoped-for moment. In an instant, all of us caught up in an epic story about trusting the path.
Link up with Five Minute Friday: https://fiveminutefriday.com/2022/12/01/fmf-writing-prompt-link-up-instant/
Wow, I thought cranberries were good for urinary tract issues.
I did, too, so I take cranberry supplement.
Instant coffee. That would be hard on me I must admit. It may come. One of my mentors (secretly) Andre Crouch on keyboard style and chord structures, I just played soon and very soon for closing out the church service. It’s not meant for the tepid. A little gal with two teenagers admitted she told them to move down a ways so she had more “Sway Room”. The teen girls were embarrassed by mom I think. Fun.
Dear Gary,
Funny how some changes are hard and others not so much. In the morning, I ask myself, “Hmmm, drink real coffee and feel miserable or drink instant and feel okay?” Not much contest there. Same with praising the Lord. At church, I ask myself, “Hmmm, sing and sway and clap in front of everyone and feel joyous or refrain and not embarrass myself?” Not much contest there either.
Thank you for sharing your gifts, Gary!
-C.D.
Can’t do coffee any more,
my guts have really made that clear,
and life would have become a bore
except that I can still drink beer,
and do so with every meal
(Beer for breakfast, thank you God!),
and I still can keep it real,
for alcohol don’t leave me flawed
in my judgement or in speech!
it’s just not processed, sent along
to make a drunk day out of reach,
but I believe it keeps me strong
in its fine thirst-quenching taste
that my days don’t go to waste.
While my digestive systems still seems able to tolerate coffee, I can no longer drink any type of citrus juice because of acid reflex. It’s been years since I tasted a glass of OJ. Best wishes Carole in reading WAR AND PEACE. I read it years ago in Montana when I found it on the shelf in the high school library where I was teaching. The book had not been checked out for quite some time. Reading it was quite a journey, but I made it to the end.
I think we all make adjustments as we age. It’s not so much what changes happen but how we handle them. As for WAR AND PEACE, I’m savoring the story and the craft. Both journeys. Dear Richard, I wish you and your family a blessed New Year!