Gathered ‘Round the Table: After 27 Courses…

The last twenty-four hours have provided the opportunity to gather for three major meals with the Chinese Baptist Church, as we celebrated the conference of the Honorary Doctorate degree upon Khun Thawesak. Banquet meals at the Maitrichit Chinese Baptist Church have always consisted of a nine course meal, with some fascinating and delicious Chinese delicacies, including shark fin soup, webbed goose feet, and fried pig skin. It means there’s plenty of food, but what I especially enjoy is that there is also plenty of time to pause between courses.

Anyone who eats with me regularly knows that about half way through my meal I will set down my fork and stop eating for a while. It’s not that I’m finished eating, I just like to stop, and talk, and think in the midst of the meal. I call it “resting.” And so there’s plenty of time to rest as we wait for each course to come to the table. Eating with chopsticks also encourages a bit slower pace to the meal as well, especially for those of us beginners. So, having eaten three Chinese banquet meals within a 24 hour period, which is 27 courses you know, I felt both very full and “rested” or let’s say reflective.

The meal is also shared at a round table with enough seating for ten people, and we eat family style, from a common plate, swiveling it back and forth on what we would call a lazy susan. It was beautiful, as I rested, to observe and participate in the experiences of my fellow travelers as we were so graciously served course after course, all dishes highly unfamiliar to any Westerner. I don’t know if I can explain how, but I felt more connected to each of my fellow travelers as I observed their experiences. We struggled together in our attempts to use chop sticks, course after course. We gulped down pieces congealed lobster blood together as it floated in something like 7-Up. We set aside our own levels of comfort in order to receive the gracious hospitality of our Chinese and Thai brothers and sisters in Christ.

I couldn’t help but turn my thoughts toward the disciples gathered with Jesus at the table, what we know as the Lord’s Supper. Their shared questions, hesitations, excitement, and compelling faith to sit with the Teacher must’ve drawn them together. Those are the same kinds of expressions of faith I experience as it is now time to prepare for the Seminar in Myanmar.

Having safely arrived in Myanmar, which I shall refer to as Burma, we had a few hours rest, and then gathered to meet our fellow travelers of the Under the Boa Tree Course. We are composed of quite an international community, including twelve participants from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Sweden, Denmark, and the U.S. We began with a common starting point, “Let’s eat together at the little café down the street at 7:00 p.m.” Of course, why wouldn’t we gather to eat? Fortunately, they don’t serve a nine course meal in Burma, I’m still way too full. I am, however, eager to continue this deep experience of communion with my fellow participants, and Burmese brothers and sisters in Christ, and the many travelers in the journey to come.