Life's A Cup of Coffee

"Life's a Cup of Coffee," said my dad, as he stood, steaming coffee cup in hand, leaning against the kitchen counter.
I watched him walk away and contemplated his meaning, trying to fit the crazy, insane, sad, and completely wonderful thing we call life into an analogy with a cup of coffee.
Life, birth, death.
Coffee.
Not much to compare, right? But as I walked over to make my own self a cup of coffee, I thought about it some more. Coffee starts as a really plain, brown bean. Then it's harvested and sent to the USA to be brewed into the coffee we drink. We come into this world as a baby in a womb. We aren't really physically different, because, well, we're developing in a womb. But when we come out of the womb, we grow and change and develop features unique to each of us. Both the coffee bean and the baby will later become something impressive.
Coffee is flavorful. Life is flavorful! But you can have bitter coffee. And life can be bitter. We drink instant coffee sometimes, when we're rushed or camping or coffee is too expensive to buy. And sometimes in life we are short-changed. We don't get the full, freshly brewed cup we want, or the ideal cream, sugar, and designer Starbucks' cup. We get instant coffee. People give us the "short end of the stick" and we feel like we deserve more.
But then I think about my days when I get home from school or when I'm sad or when it's cold outside. I grab a book, a blanket, and a steaming cup of coffee. Why? Because coffee is comforting. It's warm and safe and a little something special. And life offers things that are safe and special: family, God, friends, knowing you have a house or a meal or simply a cup of water.
So maybe my dad's right. Even if it is far fetched, I can still see how life's a cup of coffee.