Our new home has a built-in bean-to-cup coffee machine. It’s a bit extravagant compared to what I was used to, but it’s been a real delight. As for some of you, coffee is essential to my happy, wakeful existence.

This coffee machine requires something of me, though. Obviously, I have to supply it with roasted beans. I also have to make sure I empty out the coffee grounds so the remnants don’t build up. I need to rinse out the drip pan and water reservoir so the machine stays healthy. And once in a while, I need to use descaling tablets to keep everything running smoothly.

If I don’t do those various maintenance tasks, the machine suffers. Which means my coffee would suffer. So, I want to do all those little things that ensure I’ll keep getting good coffee for years to come.

You may already see the link to our spiritual well-being. Our spirituality requires something of us, too. We have to supply ourselves with good material. Maybe that happens on Sunday mornings, or with your intake of your own personal scriptures or inspiring reading or viewing. Maybe there are essential ingredients you return to again and again to find fresh insights.

We also need to do some internal maintenance, though. Maybe our daily frustrations, disappointments, and resentments threaten to clog the system. It’s important for us to rinse those things out of our systems—or choose to transform them into meaningful action. Otherwise, the things we do in the world might not reflect all that high-quality material we take in.

In other words, a little daily maintenance helps us have integrity. Some simple spiritual practices can help us ensure that our actions align with what we value.

And once in a while, we need to do some descaling. Our spiritual well-being can use a special boost from time to time. Whether that’s a retreat or a special ceremony or just an extended time of recentering and regrounding ourselves in our personal guiding principles. Then, we can go back to our routines refreshed and renewed, able to contribute to greater wholeness and well-being in our lives and in the world around us.

Which, I have to admit, is even more satisfying than a really good cup of coffee.

More to come…

Rev. Randy Partain