So these two people walk into a grocery store…
Hello Tablers. Happy long weekend! I started out the weekend with some grocery shopping. Maybe it’s instinct – stocking up for the snowstorm or something. (Sorry – bad May long weekend weather forecast is bugging me…) In any case, while I was grocery shopping I received a gift. It came in the form of an elderly woman who was also doing her grocery shopping. I was fully ambulatory; she was getting around in a motorized wheel chair. We were both immobilized in the produce section, looking at the same section of cooler, and neither of us apparently finding what we were looking for.
She was looking up, well beyond her physical reach, so I said, “Is there something I can help you reach?”. Grocery stores seem to stock more than ordinary humans can grasp, never mind what someone at wheelchair height. She was, it turned out, looking for cilantro. The sign said it should be right in front of us, but I read through the stem labels on everything in the bin, and there was no cilantro.
“And what are you looking for?”, she asked?
“Parsley”. There was lots of parsley. I picked up two bunches.
“And what”, she wanted to know, “do you make with the parsley?”
“Oh, I make my own salad dressing”.
She thought that sounded lovely. I assured her that it was.
And something transpired in that exchange that had nothing (at least nothing directly) to do with the matter we were discussing. There was this little “zap” of connection, and for the rest of the time I was in that store I felt a sense of happy identity whenever I saw her moving through the isles collecting what she needed.
Curious…What happened there? Was it ordinary or extraordinary? And if it was more than ordinary, why?
This week at The Table we’ll be exploring was to see God in the world through the practice of encounter with others. I hope you can be there. There’s no substitute for being physically present when it comes to encounter.
And if you can’t be there (I know lots of us have other places we’ll be this weekend), my hope for you is that you will have occasion to see God in the face and lives of those you are with.
Peace,
Tim
Some Important Details:
Kids Table – this week and next will be Kid’s Table mornings. The Kid’s Table program doesn’t run in the summer, so these will be the final weeks for this season.
May 24th – our last Sunday morning gathering before we switch to Wednesday evenings. Also a Souper Sunday. Judi Heppner is coordinating the food part of our morning. She will have sign up sheets there this Sunday, and if you need to reach her you can best do that by emailing me.
May 24th – yes, I know that’s the same date. Just checking to see if you were paying attention. This date will also be a Parent /Child Dedication. Yeah!
June 3rd – our first Wednesday evening gathering. We’ll meet at 6:30 p.m. in the same place, unless we announce otherwise.
July 18 / 19th – The Table Beach Day – July 18th is the “official” date; the 19th is the “rain date”. Details will follow…
That’s it for now.