Coffee is Spiritual

Starbucks has a new ad campaign where they announce "Coffee is Culinary". I have no idea what that is supposed to mean, but did you know coffee is spiritual?

According to the Gourmet Coffee Club, the delightful drink had been a part of Arab culture for centuries, but not so in the western European world. When the drink was first introduced, priests attacked it, and forbid its consumption, believing it to be the drink of the devil.

The thought was that Satan had invented the drink for the Muslims as a substitute for the wine they were forbidden. In the late 1500's Pope Clement VIII was asked to settle the dispute. A cup of the brew was brought to him. He sipped the coffee and found it delicious. Right then and there the Pope blessed the drink, and baptized it as well, permitting its enjoyment by the western world. The Pope reasoned that banishing this drink from the Christian world would be a sin.

So enjoy a second cup of coffee today. It won't get you any closer to Heaven, but it will make life here on earth more pleasant.