on_holy_ground | TM - 128 - What Does "Comfort" Mean To You?

The afternoon had finally drawn to a close, and those who had come in to St. Julien’s for assistance or a listening ear had long since departed to go back to their homes and their lives. Darius finished up the last of the notes was working on, then slowly got to his feet and stretched a bit to work out a small kink in his back. Then he smiled to himself as he went about the rectory, going through the practically ritualistic motions of making his afternoon cup of tea.

Dumping out the remaining water from his morning cup, Darius rinsed the pot and then added fresh water before setting it on to boil. While he waited, he went to get his teapot, strainer, teaspoon, and his favorite tea leaves for this particular time of day, and set them on the table away from the water waiting to boil. He then measured out a heaping teaspoon of leaves for every cup of tea he planned to drink, and put it in the strainer holder.

Once the water had started boiling, Darius added some to his teapot, swirling it around a bit until the pot felt warm under his fingertips and then dumping it out. Once that was accomplished, he set the pot down on the table and then added the leaves from the strainer holder. Then he poured the remaining hot water into the pot and let it set for a minute or two while he put the strainer over his cup and cleaned up what he no longer needed.

When he was satisfied that the tea was ready, he poured it from the pot into the cup, letting the strainer catch the leaves. He then took a moment to take in the aroma of the tea before picking up the cup and letting it warm his fingers. Walking over to the window, he looked out over the courtyard at the people taking advantage of the grounds, and smiled as he took his first sip.