Master the long meal

CheriGENERAL

Food and music and art and friends and stories and rivers and lakes and oceans and laughter and …. did I mention food?
God has given us life, and God’s desire is that we live it. 
One of the most tragic things ever to happen to the gospel was the emergence of the message that Jesus takes us somewhere else if we believe in him.  The Bible ends with God coming here.
God, in the midst of all the people who can imagine nothing better, celebrating the life that we all share.  The images Jesus used were of BANQUETS and FEASTS and CELEBRATIONS.  What do we do at parties such as these?
We eat and talk and dance and enjoy each other and above all else, we take our time. 
What does Jesus do almost as much as he teaches and heals?  He eats long meals. As Christians, it is our duty to master the art of the long meal.
What was the the ritual the first Christians obsered with the most frequency?  Exactly.  The common meal, also called the Eucharist or the Lord’s supper. 
And what did this meal consist of?  Hours of talking and sharing and enjoying each other’s presence.
Food is the basis of life, it comes from the earth, and the earth is God’s.  Time spent around the table with each other is time spent with God.
The above writing is from Rob Bell’s book,
The Velvet Elvis, page 171.
It is one of my favorite books.
This excerpt is underlined in my book, maybe because long dinners with laughter and good conversation are one of my favorite things in life to do.