As the Brandi Carlile song goes,
“I want a house with a crowded table,
And a place by the fire for everyone.”
This was exactly the spirit felt this past Sunday at our Longest Table event as over 100 friends, neighbors, and community members gathered around nearly 40 tables and shared a meal together outside our front door. There was great music (Thanks to our own Kyle Caudle and his band!), perfect weather, and an abundance of time to be with each other as a perfect cap to our World Communion Sunday. There were buckets of chicken, homemade cake, western-themed tables, and merriment all around. I know that for so many of us, this evening was fun, meaningful, inspiring, and a blessing to each one of us gathered.
In an age where much of our time is spent in the technological realm – through Zoom, email, social media, or streaming – it can be easy to miss meeting together with people you know and love, let alone with those you don’t know yet! As we closed down the street, we made space – literally – to gather at that crowded table, make new connections, and be reminded once again of the particular sacredness of breaking bread together. When we meet together at the table, there is a miraculous mix of mystery and mundanity, where we encounter the spirit of God as we fill our hearts and our stomachs with a feast of love. In communing with each other, we commune with the divine in every bite, remembering the deep connection of belovedness that sustains us all. As we marked World Communion Sunday, it was precisely these crowded tables that reminded me of the whole host of companions we have to journey with in our lives of faith, if only we take time to sit down at the table and meet each other.
We don’t have to do this alone- Thanks be to God!
Thanks again to our community engagement ministry team and all our table hosts for preparing and hosting such a lovely evening. Gratitude abounds for all the ways each person offered their time and energy to bring such a great event to life. You can see a recap of our time in the video from Ryan Jones below.
With love and hope,
Olena