A Place at the Table - 05 - Feast
God, we thank You for the feasting table. It is a foretaste of heaven itself, and on this day of worship we pause from our fast to celebrate Your love and grace. Amen. ----
Seay, today, comes to the first of the "feast days" in his book. Each Sabbath day is a feast day to step away from the fast that one is practicing and to give thanks for the love and grace that God has provided. Yet, the feast comes with caveats - Its not a day to gorge, to be a glutton, to run away from all the lessons learned, but to find ways to integrate into our lives. This morning in worship, we were reminded of the process of examen - a tool to help us go deeper and to try to hear what God is saying to us. On this feast day, I think of the wonderful meal that we shared with a bunch of friends last night - our annual Chinese New Year Jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) Party. We had a wonderful group of friends who gathered, made food together, and shared lives. It was a great night and a true feast. Yet, what I was thankful about was two-fold - I did not feel like I ate everything and even more importantly, I feel I connected with virtually everyone who came. It was a wonderful night. So, while the feast day was officially today, I think of those dumplings that we shared last night. (There's also some feasting taking place twice today as we had a potluck over lunch at the congregation my wife serves and then we have another one tonight at the congregation I serve).
Also, note that the dumplings in the picture aren't yet cooked...I like that they are not quite ready, just like us. Just like this feast...as Seay put it, a foretaste of heaven itself...