“All I want is to sit in his shade,
to taste and savor his delicious love” (Song of Solomon 2:3)
Growing up in my grandmother’s house, sometimes I got myself into a fried-bologna sandwich jag. My grandfather would get himself into a milk-toast jag. Right now I’m in a tea jag – either wild apple ginger tea or tangerine rosemary or sweet orange spice.
Some might say that a jag is about unrestrained indulgence – an indulgence, yes – starting from the moment the burner under the kettle is switched on, through the tea leaves measured out, to the steeping and the honey, to the sitting, the holding of the cup, the savoring of a moment uninterrupted.
Whether it’s tea or coffee, milk-toast or fried-balogna sandwiches – it’s a time that allows me to pull away from the glare of the daily – to sit in His shade, and to taste and savor his delicious love – whether it’s just sitting at my work desk looking out the window, or at a lunch counter with words on paper, or on a bench in a sunny breeze.
Sitting in the shade with Him is an indulgence. A God-kind of indulgence is a pleasure that should not be so rare it is special. His kind of indulgence and pleasure should happen often. Sitting with Him allows our souls to steep in His Holy Spirit – allowing all the inside parts that have been dried-up to unfurl,
– kind of like how the Tea Forte describes its tea infusion that allows “the delicate leaves to luxuriantly unfurl in the hot water, offering up their complex characteristics producing a deliciously aromatic, flavorful cup delighting all the senses.”
Tea time isn’t just a comfort time – it is a coming to be time – at least when we take our cuppa or our sandwich, settle down in His shade for quality time with Him.
Blue Cotton Memory 