Yesterday was one of my favorite days in a long time. The way that this Place at the Table fast is laid out is that on Sundays, we are encouraged to feast with friends -- eat, drink, laugh, enjoy. So I had been looking forward to Sunday all week. It had been a long time since I had planned out my meals quite so fully. I was going to eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Heart (or 2) at midnight, and then get up early for a bowl of cereal loaded down with milk. Then, on my way to work, I was going to get a Cinnamon Dolce Latte (that girly coffee again). Lunch would be large quantities of meat, and dinner would be a feast as well. There was even a thought that I would squeeze one last meal in before going to bed.
Well, reality was less sexy. The Resse's happened at midnight (glorious!), but when I woke up, the cereal didn't seem so appealing. So I did the CDL from Starbucks and went to church. The conversation at church was awesome. Several of us chatted about what we had been learning about ourselves and our lives during this fast. After church, a group of us went to Texas Land and Cattle and waited forever to get a table. But it didn't matter (at least not to most of us) because the conversation was so life-giving. I ate red meat for the first time in a while, but it was again the community that was being formed around the table that was the most fulfilling. As a matter of fact, the burger and sweet potato were a little too much. I felt a little bloated.
So much so that when our community gathered last night for table fellowship and discussion, I wasn't really hungry. But I bought a chicken sandwich and a coke and was off to our meeting. It was again the community that was life-giving. It was our first gathering since we initially launched this lent fast, so we spent some time discussing what we had learned. I was blown away that, since our first meeting, three of our families had begun sponsoring Compassion kids. Our little community of 15-20 people had committed to changing 3 lives and bringing kingdom to earth in a tangible, food-on-the-table sort of way. We then discussed things like contentment and overindulgence and appreciating simple things. It was again an absolutely life-giving discussion.
We ended our time with some talk about healing and then we took communion together. The last thing we did was feast on some cake for one of our group's birthday. Not sure I've ever enjoyed birthday cake quite that much. I went home from that gathering, chicken sandwich in hand (I hadn't eaten it yet; I was still full from lunch!), very happy to have a community of faith that was trying to be intentional about hope and healing and redemption.
So now I begin the first full week of the fast. I'm sure there will be days of hunger and anger, frustration and exasperation. But, if week one was any indication, there will also be days of reflection, healing, community and shalom. Stay tuned.
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