Room at the Table

Last week I had the incredible gift of two coffee dates (in one day!) with soul-friends.  Together, with both of these lovelies, I have shared laughter, tears, dreams and failures.  With both, we can quickly fill in the gaps between our visits and dive head first into heart stuff.  Thank you, AT for being a cheerleader, for fresh perspective and big laughs.  Thank you, TM for incredible wisdom, quiet confidence and joy focus.  Days later, I happily agreed to TWO MORE social meals! One with new family friends and the other with precious ladies from my church small group.  Each one of these four get-togethers, we clustered around a table and talked.  I’ve long held the belief that relationships are built over tables.  Last week’s encounters added evidence to my growing hypothesis.  

As I came home from my first coffee date, I was remembering an old poem I found a long time ago in a compilation book entitled, “A Little Book of Cherished Poems.”  The poem, “There is Always a Place for You”, is by Anne Campbell and reads like this:

There is always a place for you at my table,
You need never to be invited.
I’ll share every crust as long as I’m able,
And know you will be delighted.
There is always a place for you by my fire,
And though it may burn to embers,
If warmth and good cheer are your desire
The friend of your heart remembers!
There is always a place for you by my side,
And should the years tear us apart,
I will face lonely moments more satisfied
With a place for you in my heart!

A place for you at my table.  That’s how I want to live.  Warmth, good cheer, a spirit of delight. Family. Friends. Laughter and support.  I’m so thankful as I look back on my life so far.  Each chapter of my life has been blessed with loving friendships.  Sometimes, those friendships span decades.  Other times they were just a season, but I can truly say I face lonely moments more satisfied with those friends in my heart. 

Alicia Britt Chole, in her book 40 Days of Decrease, had me thinking in another avenue about friendship recently.  On the journey to the Cross Jesus spent several evenings with friends and family – the time in Bethany with Lazarus, the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane.

Indulge my imagination a little as we consider His times with Lazarus, Mary and Martha.  They were treasured friends.  The gospels mention three separate occasions in which Jesus visited their home.  We don’t know the details on how they met or the beginning of their relationship.  Perhaps they were childhood friends or met early on in His ministry?  We do know He chided Martha lovingly for her propensity toward being a busy-body. (Luke 10) Later, He had wept upon seeing Mary and Martha’s grief at their brother’s passing.  Then, instead of simply preventing Lazarus from dying, He raised Lazarus from the dead to our benefit that we may all believe! (John 11)

At his third and final recorded visit, I can imagine that He greeted them with a full, but weary, smile.  (Have you ever known someone who smiled with their whole face, even their eyes lit up and twinkled?  Can’t you just picture the Son of God like this?!)  I envision that He looked across to his friend Mary, who had shared the story of Lazarus’ resurrection with so many (v 45), and knew she would stand at the foot of the Cross with his mom and his aunt.  The full heart He must have felt at her love, devotion and friendship, as she anointed His feet with perfume (12:3).  I imagine He took Mary’s face in His hands, kissed both cheeks in a final goodbye, whispered “well done, my good and faithful friend.”  She didn’t know He was thanking her in advance for being at the foot of the Cross, for going quickly to the tomb in the morning after the Sabbath, for sharing the story of HIS resurrection. Perhaps, she only thought the “well done” was for dinner, for choosing His company over preparation, or for the controversial use of her perfume.  He was approaching the Cross.  In just days he would prod his disciples to the Garden because His “soul was troubled.”  He knew The Hour was coming.  He was not simply God sent to do a job.  In his complete humanity, He loved his family, friends and disciples deeply; and I can imagine He cherished their love and relationship. 

We don’t know where Lazarus was during the Crucifixion or after the Resurrection, but we do know that in His last days, Jesus enjoyed a meal at their table.  There was room at their table for the Savior.  There was room at the Savior’s table for old friends. 

This season, as part of Lenten practice, so many have “given up” different things – caffeine, chocolate, social media.  But today, I offer you a different kind of practice.  Intentionally add in deepening friendships, add in sharing your table, add in face to face interaction.  Purposefully make time to make a place for someone in your heart.

Many Blessings, Bethany