take this bread

For Christmas I received a book called, take this bread, by Sara Miles. This is a memoir of a twenty-first-century Christian. Her story is captivating. The back cover of the book sums up her story, "Early one morning, for no earthly reason, Sara Miles, raised an atheist wandered into a church and received communion, and found herself transformed-embracing a faith she'd once scorned..." Miles discovers a religion centered on real hunger, real food, and real bodies. She turns the communion table, where she first received the bread, into a food pantry.

The image is profound. The communion table, where we share bread and the cup week after week, a place for people who are hungry to receive food. In my estimation, Miles takes Jesus' invitation to heart and discovered a way to make it real for all people in her community. I am captivated by her bravery and her openness to God's invitation.

Each week that I have come to the communion table since I have been reading Miles' story, I have thought about the food pantry spread out on the communion table. I have thought about how we are all connected by sharing a meal at Jesus' table. Through Christ, we share the table with St. Gregory's Episcopal Church serving their community grapes, beans, bread, and numerous other groceries as part of their communion celebration. It turns out there is room for more than bread and wine at the table.

Miles has got me thinking about the table. What does it mean for all to truly be invited to the table? How can we extend the welcome and share a meal together throughout the week? How do we share bread with our neighbors? In this book, I am finding more questions than answers and I am quite grateful.