There must be at least a thousand articles about the connection between friendship and a meal, so I won’t try to compete. But beginning yesterday I’ve been thinking about my own life and all the great times I had connected in one way or the other with food. Many I have told at one time or the other, and a few I hold close and private.
It began yesterday. Suzy and I had a doctor’s appointment, and afterwords we decided to check out a new place in a part of town we don’t usually frequent. Turns out the place was closed, but we were still hungry, so we stopped at a “meat and three” type restaurant that Suzy had never been. It was after lunchtime and, while we waited for our meal, I looked around the room.
To my delight, the place was full of different types. The waitress was covered in tattoos, I mean covered from head to foot. Two young women were obviously having a heart-to-heart talk. Several single guys were working on their computers, while two men my age wearing very long hair and even longer beards ate their food. I was in seventh heaven watching the customers and daydreaming about their conversations, while Suzy finished an email to a real estate client. It was good to get out, and the chicken fried steak was cooked perfectly.
That’s a long introduction to why I’ve been thinking over the past days about getting out and having meals with friends and family. I do that a lot, but I also am aware how easy it is to fall into a habit of not getting out. There is something about good food, or even greasy bad food, that causes one to relax and open up about life, and joys, and sorrows.
Perhaps the “meat and three” is more than a restaurant; it is a sanctuary of common grace. When we step away from our tasks and sit among the tattooed and the bearded, the lonely and the connected, we are participating in the “Great Banquet” in miniature. We often think of spirituality as something that happens in the quiet of a desk or the hush of a sanctuary, but there is a certain holiness in the clatter of silverware and the smell of gravy. It reminds us that we are not solitary workers, but hungry souls designed for community. To “get out” is to acknowledge that the world is full of neighbors we haven’t met yet, and to eat among them is to recognize that we all share the same basic needs—for bread, for breath, and for the warmth of another’s presence. In the end, the most spiritual thing we can do is simply to show up, look around, and realize that we are all invited to the table.
Beautiful.
I’ve wanted to lunch with you for years. My strategy was for Bill Goodyear to be the conduit to get the 3 of us to the table. It just hasn’t come to fruition in say, 12-13 years, yet it (You) are still very much on my “list”. So, I ask you directly: “What are the chances?” Either by email, or try this: 874-934-4472, text or however you’re comfortable. Get this… I d-double dare you. Let’s experience “live” how we align.
Drake, I apologize for being slow in responding. I’d like to make it happen, but my schedule is dependant on my wife and her care. I’ll try to figure something out and get back to you. Please be patient with me. W.