Some of you may know that I like to pray at coffee shops whether Starbucks or some local cafe.
It always bothers me when someone gets upset because their iced macchiato latte mocha with 7 ice cubes, half a pump of hazelnut and 5/8 Splenda isn't perfect. But this problem goes beyond just coffee drinks.
C. S. Lewis sheds some light on this issue with a line from him book The Screwtape Letters. In this story the character of Screwtape, a veteran demon, is writing to his young nephew Wormwood instruction and insight into how to temp a man down the path to hell.
Screwtape states that "whatever men expect, they soon come to think they have a right to"
At Starbucks because they offer to customize drinks to the umpteenth degree how quickly we feel entitled to this. The reality is that customizing my drink is something Starbucks offers as a draw to get customers. It is not unreasonable to take them up on this offer. Customization adds work for the barista, but wages make up for that. But it doesn’t justify getting angry at the barista for making a mistake.
It always bothers me when someone gets upset because their iced macchiato latte mocha with 7 ice cubes, half a pump of hazelnut and 5/8 Splenda isn't perfect. But this problem goes beyond just coffee drinks.
C. S. Lewis sheds some light on this issue with a line from him book The Screwtape Letters. In this story the character of Screwtape, a veteran demon, is writing to his young nephew Wormwood instruction and insight into how to temp a man down the path to hell.
Screwtape states that "whatever men expect, they soon come to think they have a right to"
At Starbucks because they offer to customize drinks to the umpteenth degree how quickly we feel entitled to this. The reality is that customizing my drink is something Starbucks offers as a draw to get customers. It is not unreasonable to take them up on this offer. Customization adds work for the barista, but wages make up for that. But it doesn’t justify getting angry at the barista for making a mistake.
Screwtape’s words prove to be sadly true in other areas of life too. I continue to realize aspects of my life where I am at fault for this. For example, God's faithfulness. God is faithful, yet how many times are we guilty of feeling entitled for God to be faithful? Who am I to think that God would owe me anything? Similarly I do not deserve grace or mercy. Though I do not have to doubt in them, I constantly have to guard myself against any sense of entitlement. If it was deserved mercy would cease to be mercy.
Even in simpler situations this idea proves true. Practically anything I could get upset over is probably something I somehow feel I deserve. But I don't deserve to eat three meals today or to have a retirement. If my life were demanded from me tonight I could not protest it. Slowly I feel I am realizing this truth in my life, but as always I have a long way to go.
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