The past three to four years have not been easy for the eight to ten or so people who remained with Open Table Church. We gave up the yellow room. We moved temporarily to a not-so-ideal location. Some people decided to leave. A beloved leader passed away just this year.
I cannot say we merely persevered for by every reason and hardship we ought to have given up. Every disappointment, mistakes, some tensions here and there, lack of money, volunteers and every singe doubt are enough for us to disband and go our separate ways. But indeed there is some Power, some Anima that held us together & now called new people to be added. The breath of God is blowing and giving us new life, new hope and new vigor.
I’m not naive to say that the struggle of Open Table is done, nor the transition is over. Also, there is more work to be accomplished, spiritually and organizationally. We still have fears and doubts. We still need to burst some of our middle class bubbles thru ‘exorcisms’. We need to get out and move towards the peripheries more. But all in God’s time and the movement of the Spirit.
To those who stayed, you are the nails that tightly held the table together. Many came to feed and share stories in our old broken table. To the new ones, you are the new wood, nails and new paint that are being added to refurbish and to grow our Table. The Carpenter who built us thirteen years ago is the same One who held us together and sustained us from falling apart. The same Carpenter who got nailed to the wood is the One who is rebuilding us as a new and bigger Table that is open to all.
