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Available for over a year

As a coffee lover, I have spent years pursuing the ever elusive perfect macchiato. Over time, I’ve come to the conclusion that like the perfect circle, it exists only in theory. And then recently, I popped into a little café in a trendy neighbourhood and ordered a macchiato. I took a sip and time stood still. This is what I had been waiting for, the holy grail of macchiato. The ratio of milk to coffee was perfect, just enough to stain the coffee and offset the bitterness with a hint of sweetness. The texture, the temperature, the aroma, the colour; perfect. Any improvement would be a detraction. My search was over. I showed up bright and early the following morning anticipating my little hit of paradise on earth. The coffee arrived, I took a sip with my eyes closed waiting for the brew to work its magic. It was good, more than good, it was a fantastic coffee. But it wasn’t the same as the day before. It wasn’t perfect. What had changed? In terms of the actual coffee, nothing. And yet, it didn’t taste quite the same. And then it occurred to me. There is no such thing as a perfect coffee. I had experienced a confluence of factors that worked on me subjectively to produce a perfect experience. The time of day, the weather, what I had eaten earlier, my thirst level, the temperature in the café, my general mood, and countless other factors that I am hardly aware of. All these converged at that particular point in time, over that particularly good coffee, rewarding me with an experience of utter perfection. The chance of all these factors converging in the same way again are almost nil. Theists make much of the ‘argument from design’ which focuses on the extraordinary fine-tuning of the fundamental forces that enable the creation of our universe. If any of the fundamental physical constants were to be off by the smallest degree, life would not have evolved. This, say theists, points to a Designer of the universe, and proves God’s existence. Putting aside the fact that this proof is hardly airtight – a range of eminent philosophers and scientists have poked holes in it for centuries - it seems to me to miss the greater picture. And that is just how extraordinary it is to be alive. The confluence of factors that had to come together to create and sustain life as we know it, is extraordinary. And a religious sensibility is one of awe and gratitude for this marvellous gift. It won’t last. The sun will eventually burn itself out, if it doesn’t boil our planet before then. All we have is a perfect moment within the infinitude of time. This moment is ours to celebrate and savour, like a perfect macchiato.