Two Cups of Tea at Hope’s Café
Returning from a family vacation when my daughter was five, a vacation she had particularly enjoyed, I heard her singing to herself in the back seat: “I love my mother and she loves me and she knows I’m good. And I love my daddy and I love God and I love everybody. And I especially love my mother.” I’m not sure what garnered me that much affirmation but I’ve kept that memory tucked away for the times she “didn’t especially” love me! But I digress.
My point is that we have those moments when we just have a magnanimous sense of love that spreads a wide net around us. But I think of the saying “I love humanity. It’s people I can’t stand.” Sometimes our “love for all” is a rather thin veneer over bias/judgement/distrust/even hate. Many churches post some version of “All are welcome” and some even live up to it. But many times even church folk discover how difficult it can be to live that out. I recall some years ago the story of a pastor who disguised himself outside the church as a homeless person before the Sunday morning service. One person after another passed him by without acknowledgement or an offer to help or to invite him in. This is not a judgement on those who ignored him. It is a call to us to recognize our own instincts to recoil.
Once when I was acting as sabbatical pastor at my home church, a clearly homeless person showed up, installed himself on one of the pews, pulled off a trench coat to cover himself with it as he stretched out on the bench. Because we had once had a psychotic person who totally “unraveled” during a service, I asked two members to sit nearby should our visitor need some help. Yet this fellow seemed to be taking the opportunity to rest, not engaging in the service: that is, until the end of the service when he asked to share something. I took a big gulp and said “Yes, of course.” He then began to sing a hymn in a beautiful melodious voice. It was not a hymn with which I was familiar but it was heartwarming. Everyone applauded this startling performance.
While that is a memory I cherish, I recognize that it might have evolved very differently had he been aggressive or threatening or in some way disruptive. In such an uncertain and tumultuous time, it is easy to develop suspicion and distrust. While I don’t advocate throwing caution to the wind, I do encourage us all to keep a check on our thoughts, our feelings, our behaviors that a poisonous atmosphere does not invade our spirits.
From Brainy Quotes: “The greatest and noblest pleasure which we have in this world is to discover new truths, and the next is to shake off old prejudices.” And from Goodreads: “Viewpoints differing form our own are a blessing to tear open the canvas of ignorance covering our lives.”
The invitation is open to share two cups of tea anytime at Hope’s Café or anywhere you share companionship and conversation.
May we bearers of hope, the “wait staff” at Hope’s Café, for each other and all those we encounter. Shalom, Kate
Hope's Cafe 