Cheaters never win. Or do they?

Foreword: In my world, "hiatus" apparently means 72 hours. It's my blog, I'll write if I want to.

I have a confession: I'm cheating on my baristas. Both of them. I didn't really mean for it to happen. In fact I never saw it coming until it was too late. I love Jittery Joe's coffee. It's local. The people are nice. The coffee isn't as strong as Starbucks. It's not as watery as gas station coffee. It's just right. As my good fortune would have it, there's a Jittery Joe's about 4 minutes from my office so I'm a frequent flyer there. Then the fall semester began and the coffee stand here on campus opened back up. So one day I walked over to get coffee from there. It's better than gas station coffee but not as good as Joe's. But the new barista (Am I even using the right term here? Is that even a word? I was going to say "coffee stand girl" but that sounds so demeaning) is really nice. And she knows my order without me actually having to order it. It's like I'm Norm minus the running tab and assigned bar stool and rotund midsection. There's a sense of rapport, if you will. But. The Joe's coffee is just better even though now I find myself torn because the coffee stand girl is nice and friendly. Do you see the mess I've gotten myself into? I've chosen convenience (walking 50 yards as opposed to driving 2 miles) over quality. The other day I went to Jittery Joe's before a meeting but then I realized that I gotten myself into a bit of a debacle. Why, you ask? Because in order to get to said meeting, I had to walk RIGHT past the coffee stand on campus. My orange cup was a dead giveaway to my disloyalty. I was embarrassed. I kid you not, I tried to hide my cup with my notebook as I walked by. I felt guilty. I know what you're thinking...she felt guilty over buying a cup of coffee from another business even though we live in the land of capitalism and that's one of the reasons why God blesses America? [or something like that] Yes, I felt guilty. Because there was a chance that coffee stand girl would see my orange Jittery Joe's cup. I had given Joe my 1.50 instead of her. See, I never have to worry about Joe knowing that I'm cheating on him because he's 2 miles away. Out of sight, out of mind. But coffee stand girl is right there. Even though I prefer Joe, it seems that I've sold out a bit for what is easiest. In doing so, I've developed a sense of loyalty to her too. I had guilt.

Now. If you have arrived to this point and find yourself thinking "is she really talking about coffee or am I missing something?" The answer is yes. I am talking about coffee, but I do love a good illustration. In fact, I think that Jesus might have used this as a parable had there been a Jittery Joe's franchise in Nazareth. Once I got settled into my meeting, I couldn't help but to think about how silly it was that I felt guilty over something as lame as buying coffee from another place. Coffee stand girl could care less, I'm sure. But then I started thinking about something else. If I felt guilty over something so trivial, how do the Bernie Madoffs or Tigers of the world feel? Can you imagine the guilt they walk around with at night? I certainly can't. It must be so heavy.

I'm not here to bash cheaters. Really, I'm not because we're all human. As soon as we think we're above something, that makes us the perfect candidate to commit the very act we frown so highly upon. I'm not here to condone those who screw around in bedrooms, boardrooms, or ball fields either though. Those who do will eventually have to bear the burden of guilt. In Philip Yancey's book "What's So Amazing About Grace?" he brings out the point that in order for the guilty person to open themselves up to receive the grace that God has for him or her [yes, God's grace is even for them], the person who has been wronged has to forgive. Why, you ask? It's my understanding that if the person who has committed the wrong becomes so guilt-laden over the pain or suffering that they have caused another person, they can become essentially trapped in that guilt. And according to Philip, they will and do become quite guilt-laden. Sure, there's a part of me that thinks "as they should!" But that mentality becomes a trap too. The cheaters definitely win if the cheated allow themselves to become trapped in the past.

The cheaters have another way to win too and it can be summed up in a one syllable word: Grace. Simple word. Huge implications. I don't know where you're at in life or if this little post is for anyone other than myself. However, if by chance you are reading this whether you are the cheater or the cheated, I hope that you can allow God's grace to cover the guilt or the hurt. It will. If it were not true, he would not have said so.