Chai Love

in Thoughts  by Jinha Kim 1 comments

I love living near the Vic Market.

This afternoon, Roy and I were coming back from an appointment on Swanston St and decided to take a shortcut  through the markets.  I forgot it was Wednesday and while Night Markets is usually crowded and crazy, at 4:45 pm vendors were setting up and it was the perfect time to browse.  Who can resist the smell and sight of the Korean twist potato or the stands of quirky goodies?

One stand caught my eye in particular.

It was a tea shop and they had various boxes of tantalizing flavors – orange licorice, mint jasmine, etc. The one that made me forget about my New Year’s budget was a little brown box with a heart on top labeled “caffeine free chai: certified organic, fairtrade, Aussie-made.”

Roy waited patiently while I sniffed the sample, recalling scenes of Uni nights working on papers or Manhattan winter mornings walking to work.  The smell alone was enough to send me down a memory lane as distinctive as Marcel Proust’s madeleines in Remembrance of Things Past.

Once I was home, I carefully prepared my tea with soymilk and honey and sat down to enjoy it to its fullest.  Every sip and swallow, I fell in love again.

And just as marketing planned, I began to read the writing on the box as I relished my cuppa.  The company name is “love chai” and they are a member of 1% For the Planet, donating to over 2,000 environmental organizations worldwide.  They provide a recipe for “the essence of love chai”:

  • 2 heaped teaspoons of patience
  • 1 heart full of love
  • 2 handfuls of generosity
  • 1 handful of understanding
  • a dash of humour
  • with a sprinkle of kindness
  • … serve to anyone and everyone with love!

That’s not such a bad recipe.  If only drinking this cup of tea could somehow infuse those character traits in me …

But perhaps the idea is that the process & packaging portray a philosophy of hope – hope that such a world is possible.

I believe it is.  For God lives.  And God is love, and love is –

kind and patient,
never jealous, boastful,
proud, or rude.
Love isn’t selfish
or quick tempered.
It doesn’t keep a record
of wrongs that others do.
Love rejoices in the truth,
but not in evil.
Love is always supportive,
loyal, hopeful,
and trusting.
Love never fails! (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, CEV)

So as I drink my chai love and listen to this song (below) by Brandon Heath (my favorite song at the moment), I can almost taste the assurance of the promise: Love never fails.  

No matter how much I fail – God never fails.

by: Jinha Kim

"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14

by: Jinha Kim

"But those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:14