Sacred Cafe

H2odevos p4p Lent 2013 “Sacred Café”

"Every gift grand and lowly

Every purpose great and small

At this feast they are made holy

By your name you have been called

By your name you have been called"

Pass It On by Peter Mayer

This week is the holiest of all weeks. I love the drama of it all. It begins with a parade and initially ends in a cemetery. Between the beginning and the ending (which is actually a new beginning), there is a trip to a garden, several palaces, a courtroom or two, a long journey to Golgotha (the first episode of Dead Man Walking) and an Easter evening stroll to Emmaus. Along the way there are stops at what I would call the "sacred café."

I was walking down a street in London when I saw the sign, "Sacred Café." In many ways due to its history and architecture, London is a city of churches. However, I don't know that any of them advertise as being a "sacred café" although many of the churches have places where they encourage the purchase of beverages and gathering. Yet, it is what places of worship all aspire to be, "sacred cafes."

Peter sings, "At this feast they are made holy." So, it is in the gathering, the eating and drinking, the blessing and the breaking, the forgiving and the sending that we catch glimpses and whiffs of what this holy week is all about.

Last summer in New Orleans I made a special pilgrimage with our congregation's youth and our chaperones to The Café Du Monde. The quote on the painting states, "It seemed like an ordinary day until I had coffee with Jesus at The Café Du Monde." Amen- that's what I'm talking about.

See you in the sacred café,

Peace,

rtg