Getting together in convivial surroundings

Sometimes the world gets what the church has forgotten it knows.

Good friends sent this link to a cafe/restaurant that seems to have grasped something about the social nature of eating.

They probably aren't the only ones - though they do seem to do it very nicely (I'll have to go and check it out).

As Leonard Sweet points out in his book, The Gospel According to Starbucks, that cafe chain is only partially interested in selling you a coffee. it's much more interested in enabling you to connect with friends and have an experience that is life-affirming.

Of course, it hopes that if it does that, it'll make more money, but let's not be too cynical because anything that helps people come together in a world that's falling apart has to be a good thing. maybe we should be in there helping it happen.

What hospitality does

We had a fabulous evening last night in the convivial surroundings of the home of good friends at our church. The food was gorgeous, the conversation refreshing, the attention to detail of our host and hostess - from the way the table was laid to ensuring our glasses were filled as necessary - was perfect. It was one of those truly refreshing occasions - just what I needed at the end of a busy week.

It was a reminder, if I needed it, of what hospitality does and how essential it is. If only the church could bottle this spirit and pour it over its gatherings.

So many of Jesus' significant encounters happened at the table, in the extended, time-rich surroundings of a meal. Conversation cannot be hurried, real issues cannot be buried in agendas, no one can hide behind their job title. Here is where humans touch and life and grace, love and mercy are exchanged. This is where people find themselves and each other - and in the course of the meal, God (whether they were expecting him or not).

In the story of Zacchaeus, Jesus came to dinner and salvation came to the house. If only that happened more often in our neighbourhoods