Holy Halitosis

[Jimbob]

"Observing an experience might be inspiring, but meaning comes with your personal participation. Participating in what is before you makes it real. 

and how do you know it's real?  In the case of coffee, it's because you can smell it even after you've finished drinking it.  The smell of those dark Brazilian beans can't be stifled even by "curiously strong" mints.  Real experience leaves a scent on your breath that stays.

The gospel is like that too.  We can mass-produce an instant, crystallized version that we keep in the freezer.  It's tasteless and unobtrusive, completely harmless and always convenient.  Or we can plunge into a strong, heady, aromatic experience that leaves us forever changed--down to our very odor.  That's the experience of the gospel."

L. Sweet, The Gospel of Starbucks, p. 64

[ravenlorre]

"Observing an experience might be inspiring, but meaning comes with your personal participation. Participating in what is before you makes it real. 

and how do you know it's real?  In the case of coffee, it's because you can smell it even after you've finished drinking it.  The smell of those dark Brazilian beans can't be stifled even by "curiously strong" mints.  Real experience leaves a scent on your breath that stays.

The gospel is like that too.  We can mass-produce an instant, crystallized version that we keep in the freezer.  It's tasteless and unobtrusive, completely harmless and always convenient.  Or we can plunge into a strong, heady, aromatic experience that leaves us forever changed--down to our very odor.  That's the experience of the gospel."

L. Sweet, The Gospel of Starbucks, p. 64

It is a comforting thought, however; crazy people who are totally out of touch with reality smell things that are not real all the time.  I think we cannot rely on our senses alone to determine reality - we have to have feedback from others to make sure we are experiencing a shared reality.

blessings

[Jimbob]

I think he's approaching it from this pov...

This was in a context of him talking about the need for genuine participatory experiences in the church.  That living the life of Christ in true community is not something that can be faked, or experienced vicariously, but must involved full and deep participation.  It must leave an indelible and recognizable mark on our being and character. 

The comparison might be something akin to the difference between watching the Gaithers (instant coffee, handy and well packaged) and joining a group of Christians in "real life" to spend an evening in worship and praise, lifting your voices to the heavens (a genuine fresh ground, fresh brewed, smells-so-good-you-think-you're-in-heaven-already cup of java).

Here are a few preceding paragraphs that might shed a bit more light...

An experience doesn't exist in a vacuum.  It requires witnesses--otherwise who is around to verify that there was experience to be had?  And better (and more important) than witnesses, it demands participants.  Authentic experiences, the ones that draw us in, insist that we join ourselves to the experience.  And experience is compelling because it captures us and says, "Jump in."

If the gospel according to Starbucks teaches us anything, it is that sights, sounds, aromas, and flavors attract us.  But attraction stops far short of satisfaction.  What is a steaming cup of coffee that is left stranded on the counter?  Within minutes it is nothing but a cold, orphaned beverage.  A cup of coffee isn't experienced and enjoyed until you participate with it.  You don't go to Starbucks to look at coffee, to admire its deep hue, and to comment on the robust appearance.  You go to Starbucks to drink it in, to participate in the experience of great coffee.

The same is true of spirituality, of course.  You can read a book about prayer or worship.  The words might inspire you, even challenge you.  The ideas might intrigue you to the extent that you invest time and thinking about a particular spiritual discipline.  But you don't go ahead and pray or worship, the words written about these subjects are nothing more than dry ink.  They are lifeless symbols of language that describe a spiritual experience that is impotent and useless until you choose to participate in it.

[Nevertheless]

Those quotes made me think of these verses from John 6

53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.

[Jimbob]