Meet Me At The Table

I pulled my car into the parking lot.

Getting out, I made my way inside. The smell of brewing coffee met me the minute I opened the door, igniting memories of many coffee times, yes, but more so, of the many meaningful conversations I have enjoyed in places like this.

Scanning the tables, already full of people eating, drinking coffee, and talking, I find my friend. Her eyes light up, and, with a hug, we order coffee (sometimes with an almond croissant) and sit together.

This is the picture I get when I think of intimate conversation.

It is sitting down across from each other and talking. We catch up on what has been happening in our lives and move from one topic to another. It is informal, conversational, full of laughter, and often a few tears.

At Refine Retreat several years ago, speaker and author Christie Purifoy encouraged us to think of where we felt most inclined to sense God’s nearness. Do we feel closest to God while in our church? Maybe on our back deck or in a log cabin in the woods. Maybe we meet him with the sunrise, watching his beauty unfold. Perhaps we sense him while in our car on the way somewhere or tucked into the most comfortable chair in our living room (with a cup of coffee, of course).

She lifted her hands, formed a square, and told us to pick up that image and place it over and into our hearts.

She added that this is a place to meet with Jesus, right here within us. We don’t have to go elsewhere to have intimate conversations with Him. He is here.

When I talk with my spiritual companions, I often encourage them to visualize Jesus as they pray.

I tell them, Close your eyes. Think about Jesus and wait for an image to form of a place where you feel close to him. Then talk with him.

For me, a comfortable place is at the table. It could be in a coffee shop or a cathedral, but sitting at the table invites me into deeper conversation and richer listening, perhaps because I have had so many sweet conversations in that position. . . coffee in hand, ears attentive, heart in tune, not much small talk. joy in the meeting of kindred hearts.

I had many such conversations at the table with my mom. She’d pour a pot of tea and we’d sit together and talk. Mostly she’d listen.

So lately when I pray, I sometimes visualize Jesus sitting across from me at the table. I want to sense his presence. So I wait. Words are few at first. I linger, sensing and welcoming his closeness. I realize his invitation for me to rest with him.

Sarah Clarkson writes in her new book, Reclaiming Quiet, that in the gentle offering of a cup of coffee from a kind friend in a humble kitchen, she found “He (God) was still there, gracious as my friend, fragrant as the coffee, tender as the autumn light, and in the revelatory brightness of those graces, I remembered afresh that his presence is constant, never dependent upon my discipline. He waits, always he waits, to receive us in that inmost room…”

Pastor Aaron, at my church, encourages us to seek God’s face before we seek his hand.

For me to seek his face, I need to intentionally slow down and quietly come to the table where he is always waiting for me. I can tell him how much he means to me. His presence is quiet and yet rich and deep.

Sitting together, he invites me to tell him what’s on my mind. I sense that he is listening, and I feel able to talk and to listen to him, asking for the help I need. Even if there are no words, just being with him is restful.

In the book, Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools, Tyler Staton writes about how God feels when we show up at the table. We don’t often think about how he feels about us as we pray. Staton writes, “But in a world that for the most part rejects him, ignores him, and chooses any distraction over him, imagine how much it must bless the heart of the Father to hear, “I want to be with you. I choose you, God, over every other option.”

Can you imagine the joy of the Father as you turn, attentive to his love for you?

Today I found myself reciting Psalm 23, one of my favorite places to meet with God.

When I got to the phrase…You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, I stopped and laughed, thinking that his preparation can be as simple as a cup of coffee and a scone. He sets the table and waits for me.

Also, in Revelation 3:20, we see a picture of Jesus standing at the door and knocking. He says, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

There we go. At the table again.

So, let’s head off to a favorite coffee shop or our own kitchen table.

Anywhere we go, we can scan the room and find him waiting for us, eager to connect in ways we never thought possible.