Compartir la Mesa – Share the Table

Table. With whom do we share the table? How do we welcome others? Whom might we be excluding from the table? What friendships are forged there? What memories are created?

I’ve spent a good part of the last week around table. Last weekend it was a table of gratitude. We shared a meal with our neighbors from whom we are renting this house. Mercedes and Santiago Benegas and their children – Juan, Florencia, Facundo, Lucía, Santiago, Paz, Francisco & Merceditas – have been a big part of our life since we’ve been here. We wanted to thank them for their friendship and hospitality.

Saturday evening Sylvia Hughes and some of her family came over dinner. Sylvia is a good friend of my “argentine mother,” and she has been such a help since here in Mendoza. She met us at the airport when we arrived to show us the way home. She calls just to check in and see how we are doing. She’s welcomed us to her table for tea, which we all have loved, especially the children.

Sunday after church Alberto Thormann and Alejandra Civit came over with their boys to spend the afternoon over lunch and around the table. Alberto and Alejandra are both talented artists from Mendoza, and they are active in the local Anglican congregation here – El Señor de la Vid – The Lord of the Vine. I worked in the Anglican Cathedral in Buenos Aires all the years I was here, and a friend put me in touch with them when we were making our plans to come to Mendoza. Alejandra was so helpful in guiding us as we were looking for a house, a neighborhood, a school… We’ve enjoyed times together since we’ve arrived, and we wanted to thank them for their friendship.

On Monday one of our dearest friends, Mónica Tompkins, arrived from Córdoba. Mónica is the pastor of the Anglican Church there. We worked together around table with men and women who were homeless in Buenos Aires. We’ve shared countless meals and Bible studies together. Mónica traveled to Alabama for my ordination and installation at First Presbyterian Church, and we shared the table of communion there, where we welcome all whom God welcomes.

It’s been such a treat to have this time with Mónica. We’ve shared meals together with our family and spent time catching up. We’ve enjoyed the fall weather and colors here in Mendoza. We’ve been talking about hospitality in our own lives and in the life of the church, and we’ve been reading together and discussing Radical Hospitality by Daniel Homan and Lonni Collins Pratt.

I’m thankful for these and so many other tables I’ve had the opportunity to share. I hope you too can find or make time to share table with others. Sacred space is created over the meal. Holy encounters await us if we are open to them. Communion changes our lives and can change the world if we’ll let it. My prayer continues to be…Gracious God, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these your gifts of bread and wine.

Peace be with you…