The
Comforting Rituals of 
Afternoon Tea
I don't consider myself an anglophile, neither am I a nut for things Victorian. But years ago I discovered and then eagerly embraced
the rituals of teatime. It's not about envying the English or
pining for the past. Afternoon tea is, simply put, one of the best
ideas I've ever stumbled across.
In our hectic world, who doesn't need to slow down a bit? I love preparing and serving tea to friends, but it's also a gift I give to myself.
If you enjoy the taste of hot tea and all you want is a quick cup, you already know how to fill a mug with tap water, drop in a teabag, and microwave it for a couple of minutes. Yes, that will quench your thirst, but if you don't already know that "having tea" is not just a physical respite but a mental and even an emotional one, I'm going to make it my mission to enlighten you.
I don't know a lot about the Japanese Tea Ceremony, but I do know that for the participants, it's not so much about drinking a hot beverage, but recharging spiritually. The elaborate preparation, both on the part of the host and the guest, is meant to encourage calm reflection.
There's something in that. After all, you can't gulp down a piping-hot beverage. So even if you've been ripping through a busy day, you are forced to change gears, to slow down and sip. It takes a few minutes to prepare a cup of tea, and then a few more minutes to drink it. But anyone can find ten minutes somewhere, whether it's immediately after a busy day at work, or during that golden time when your toddler is finally down for her nap!
The Japanese tea masters were onto something. The deliberate act of preparing and then drinking tea slows down busy minds and encourages relaxation. We're hearing a lot of medical claims these days about the benefits of drinking tea, but I can't help wonder whether those findings don't have more to do with the attitudes of tea drinkers than the physical properties of tea. So drinking tea will reduce your chance of having a stroke, will it? Perhaps. But maybe medical science should take into account that most people who habitually drink tea readily confess they do so because sipping tea is relaxing. Could that have anything to do with lowering the risk of stroke, do you think?
"I came by yesterday," a friend complained to me recently, "but you weren't home. And I really needed a cup of tea!"
This woman is a dear friend and I know she needed to talk about some tough things that are going on in her life. But why was she so "desperate" for a cup of tea?
It wasn't the drink she was thirsty for, it was the ritual that has been woven into the fabric of our friendship. She knew we would chat about mundane things while I heated water and spooned fragrant tea leaves into a teapot. By the time I set a pretty cup and saucer before her and filled it with the soothing beverage, she would have begun to relax a little. Then we'd talk seriously and of course I'd pray with her. And she would leave my house feeling recharged.
Isn't it interesting what you can start with a comforting cup of tea?
