The Table

There we were...
Fourteen of us friends gathered together for dinner and fellowship.
I hadn't seen each of them for a long time.
I was asked to give the blesssing.
Twenty-eight hands held each other in a make shift circle.
I was ten words into the blessing and my voice choked up, my shoulders started to shake and tears began to cascade down my cheek. The two hands that held my hands squeezed mine in a gesture of support and love.
My voice eventually returned to normal and I offered a few more words and then said, "Amen."
We each wiped our own tears, grabbed a plate and filled it with some of the best homemade food I have eaten.
And then,
There we were...
Gathered around the table, eating, laughing, telling stories, asking questions, catching up, offering support, encouraging each other and did I mention the laughing? Oh yeah, we laughed often!
Look around that table and you saw a cadre of people who have weathered some pretty tough storms.
Cancer, divorce, job transitions, impending retirements, injuries, depression, family issues, unemployment, grief. A motley crew we were and a motley crew we are...
Soon dessert was served and before you knew it 150 minutes had passed and it was time to leave the table and go home.
There we were...
Each of us giving and receiving hugs and then maybe a few extras for good measure. I wondered if this particular group would gather around the same table for a meal ever again. We all said we would see each other again. We really meant it. But will we? Maybe we won't. Then again, hopefully we will!

My iWitness...

One of my favorite stories in the Bible concerns a man named Mephibosheth.  His dad was Jonathan and his grandfather was the King. The king's name was Saul. Saul was killed in battle. His son Jonathan killed in the same battle.

David became king. David was heartbroken as his best friend in the world was Jonathan.
When David became king the rest of Jonathan's family ran for the hills because it was customary in those days (and still today) for the new king to kill off the former king's family. The new king had to make sure there were no former heirs to the throne that could possibly threaten his reign.

Mephibosheth's nurse upon hearing the news of Saul's death picked Mephiboseth up and ran for the hills. Along the way she tripped and fell on Mephibosheth and broke his leg and foot. He would be lame for the rest of his life.

Some years later King David had Mephibosheth, the lone heir, tracked down and brought to his home. This cannot be a good thing. And yet, David says, "Mephibosheth, you have a place at my table forever and always. Come! Dine with us." And Mephibosheth did...

"So Mephibosheth ate at David's table, like one of the king's sons." (2 Samuel 9. 11)

A lame man was invited to eat at the King's table.
There's always room at the King's table. Even for someone who has lame feet.
Because you see...
The tablecloth of grace is long!
Long enough to cover the feet of those of us who are lame...

I don't know how lame you are.
I do know how lame I am...

Oh, did you hear that?
I hear the dinner bell ringing!

Come just as you are!
Eat! Laugh!
You've been invited to sit at the King's table!
The long tablecloth of grace has been set.
The children of the King are starting to gather.
I'm hearing lots of laughter...
I'll see you there...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!