Welcome To My Substack, 'Smell The Coffee'.

“Wake up and smell the coffee.”

You’ve probably heard this saying before. Miriam Webster says it means,

“To realize the truth about one's situation : to become aware of what is really happening.”

I’ve generally imagined a phrase like this to be uttered in not-so-great scenarios. A slack-handed man has been out of work for weeks, his payments are due, his motivation is dry; “WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE, DAVE.”, shouts his angry wife. A stern father berates his day-dreaming son about going to college and getting a degree in business or finance, rather than pursuing his dream of becoming a director. “Why are you so consumed with your silly little fantasies? Do you want to go broke?Do you want to become a nobody? WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE.” Sheesh.

That’s not what I had in mind when I named this publication. Let me explain.

‘To become aware of what is really happening.’ That got me thinking. Isn’t this something we all want to know? Aren’t we all reaching out for that deeper meaning behind why we do what we do, feel what feel, and go through what we go through? Is there not a desire in the human spirit, whether buried deep within us or fully awake and active, to know if there is a true meaning behind all of life’s displays of grandeur and simplicity, beauty and suffering, good and evil; and if there is, to know what that true meaning is?

Wouldn’t we all like to wake up and smell the coffee?

Now, I must confess something: I did not give my Substack this title because I have discovered some personal ability to reveal every secret of the universe, or because I have found every little answer to all those awesome and mysterious wonders that have kept man scratching his head since the age of Adam. I’m not that guy. Sorry, everyone.

The reason I chose this title is because I am privileged enough to have a relationship, a friendship even, with the God who does know those things. The God who spoke all of creation into existence, who formed the seas in their tumultuous majesty, who molded the earth in it’s untamed glory, who created man in his own likeness, took on man’s flesh and walked among us, lived a sinless life, conquered all of hell on a thief’s cross, and was raised up from the cold clutches of death with triumphant victory in his hand.

I’m not that guy, but I know that guy. He is the one who wrote (and is still writing) this beautifully complex story we are all living, and because of this, I write.

As I walk with Jesus through each day of my life (and being that all things were made through Him [John 1:1-5]), I have begun to see more and more meaning behind each little facet of His story. I start to see “what’s really happening around me”, because He graciously shows me. So I take what I see and put pen to paper (or in most cases, fingers to keys.)

It could be the seven quiet minutes it takes me to get to work in the morning. It could be the way the trees look in the summer when their shimmering green coats are shaken by an approaching storm. Perhaps the lament of a dying loved one or a vicious war against depression or a blood-orange sun sinking into an ever-darkening sea. That which is natural, that which is joyous, that which is wretched, that which is simple and pure and nostalgic and strange and divine; There is deep, penetrating meaning in all these things, whether we initially see it or not.

He opens my eyes to the glory that He has placed all around us, and to notice and artistically reemphasize this glory through the means of poetry, essays, songs, and all forms of writing is what my soul finds immense purpose and refreshment in.

And that brings us to this publication. Along with my potent passion for curating and producing these writings, there is an equally as important element of sharing those writings, and that’s exactly what I’m doing here.

I will continue to develop routines and schedules in the frequency in which I publish my writing (feedback is always appreciated), but I will also push myself to create and produce real and honest work in new and challenging ways. I pray that as I do this, you might find something valuable in it and draw something out of what I write to enjoy and apply to your own life and perspective.

So please join me in searching out the beauty and profundity that is steeped in “the truth of our situation”, in the heights of the great mountaintops, the solemn depths of the earth, and all that lies in between. Let us not miss that sweet marrow that dwells in the bones of this strange and excellent life that the Father has set before us, and let us graciously pour out all the rawness and richness that fills our aching hearts into a song, a poem, an essay, a word.

Let’s wake up and smell the coffee.