“You prepare a table before me….”
This morning I sat with Psalm 23. It’s a familiar one to all of us, a psalm of comfort. “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” Most of us could recite much of it by heart. Today what struck me was the line “You prepare a table before me.” The first tables I thought of were the Eucharistic table and the tables at which we are fed and nourished as families, as communities. But another thought came to me: “What are all the other tables prepared for me today?”
As evening comes, I reflect on these tables of grace where I was fed and nourished: at the Eucharist … at lunchtime when we celebrated a retreatant’s 86th birthday … sharing some McDonald’s gift cards with a homeless man and receiving his hug in return … answering the phone and receiving good news about the health of one of our aged monks … speaking with a future monastery guest and discovering we have a friend in common … feeling grateful for someone listening to my story … feasting my eyes on a double rainbow before supper … and assuredly countless more! Indeed, I shall not want!
What tables were prepared for you today?
Enjoy the feast!