Take, Eat

Photo from Tartine Bread

We hosted a big, tense meeting at my work last week.  It brimmed with people whose agendas were at odds with one another.  I watched it from behind a two-way mirror, and I saw a lot of crossed arms and grim jaws set in the Dirty Harry position, challenging our team to impress them.

Then a miracle happened, about 40 minutes into a presentation that appeared to be heading for the skids.

Food came out.

At the very mention of food, I caught a thrilled eyebrow shooting up conspiratorially to waggle at another intrigued eyebrow across the room. 

Then they ate together.  There was a palpable opening in the room as the participants shared sample after sample, and by the time we were out of samples, we were running an entirely different meeting.  This one was full of engaged, excited participants, laughing and chattering eagerly.  The meeting and the presentation were a huge success.

Throughout my life, magic and transformation has happened around food.  You don't need to love Jesus to understand that something magical happens when we share a meal. 

When I had dinner at Oakland City Church a few weeks ago, Pastor Josh handed out a flyer sharing the church's values around food and communion.  In it, he says "In short: Who we eat with and how we eat matters to God."  Please check out his wonderful reflections on this topic on the Oakland City Church blog.