St. Arbucks

No visit to Seattle is complete without a full tour of Pike Place Market.  

Established in the late 1800s, Pike Place Market was a true-to-farm-to-market co-op that brought vegetables, meat, fish, and flowers directly from the farms of Eastern Washington over the mountains and to Seattle during the heady days of the Gold Rush. 

It has since become an iconic part of Seattle's tourism industry and a convenient place for Seattle residents to shop, eat, and socialize.  

The sights and sounds of the market are absolutely incredible, and when I stayed in Seattle for a few days recently, I found myself drawn to it several times.  

Pike Place Market is also home to the original Starbucks Coffee shop, which has become a destination for visitors and fans of the international coffee chain over the last few decades.  

In fact, every day that I visited the market, I was astounded at the line that would form outside the original Starbucks, filled with people who wanted to say that they got a cup of coffee from the original location, the Holy See, if you will, of the ubiquitous brand. 

I declined to wait in line for forty minutes or more to get the same coffee I could get a few blocks away from another Starbucks location with hardly any lines. I actually preferred to find a non-corporate, local coffee shop nearby, but that's beside the point. 

As I  gazed at the long line outside the original Starbucks (the photo above doesn't do it justice), I wondered why people would want to do such a thing just to get a cup of coffee.  Then I realized it wasn't about the coffee at all. 

Starbucks has become such a part of their lives and memories that they want to go to the source, so to speak, to visit where it all started decades ago.  It's a pilgrimage of sorts.  

I've traveled worldwide and visited holy sites in nearly every place I've been. I've stood in interminably long lines to touch statues, kneel before edifices, catch a glimpse of an altar, and record those moments in photos and videos. 

I've also visited the gravesites, birthplaces, and shrines dedicated to many historical figures and pop culture icons worldwide. Some of these sites seemed holy in their own right, as the curious and faithful gathered there to pay homage. 

The places we make pilgrimages to are sacred not merely because of all those who have come before us, even though that is a huge reason why we choose to visit them.  

Rather, they become sacred because of our experiences, beliefs, memories, faith, and whatever else we bring to them when we arrive.  They live in our imagination, to be sure, and sometimes that imagination is bolstered by our experience or let down, depending on our expectations. 

After reflecting on all this, I had to change my thinking about the people in line at the original Starbucks.  I no longer felt a sense of incredulity, which truthfully marked how I'd viewed them as I marveled at how long the line was outside the building. 

Instead, I looked more kindly upon them, hoping that whatever drew them there was meaningful and brought them joy.  

But I felt a bit of wistfulness that what constitutes a pilgrimage for so many of us in our current culture is grounded in things like a brand of coffee and not something more profound. (pun intended, in case you were wondering)

However, it did give me a sense of purpose, at least in how I view the work of the Church.  

The Church should be a place that offers a window into wonder rather than a place that crushes imagination.  Christians ought to be sharing joy and transcendent peace rather than bigotry, hate, and divisiveness.  

When we finally and truly get this, I imagine that as a culture, our sense of the sacred might be compelling, our message of love and grace irresistible, and those spiritual pilgrims seeking space to discover their truest selves will rejoice at what they find. 

May it be so.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.