At The table

 

I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But there is a bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

John 6:47-51 (NIV)

 
 
 

 Everything we bring

 Everything we bring

To this place

Finds a place here

 

Every case that we carry can be consigned here

Every load we are lifting can be left

Every secret we are slaves to can be spoken here

Every terror that torments us can be told.

 

There is room here for anguish

For the agony of abandonment

There is ground here for grieving

For the weeping wounds of loss

 

In this circle of safety

At this fireside of faith

There is space for story and song

There is room for revelation and renewal 

Here is hope 

And healing

Here is forgiveness 

And freedom

Here is connection

And correction

And coming to our senses

At this source

Whose depths are never ending

This river

That will never run dry

At this table

Whose banquet of abundance

Knows no bounds

 

No wrong

Is too wrong

To be righted here

No tragedy too twisted

To be turned

For everything we bring

To this place

Finds a place here

And every load we are lifting can be left

 

Gerard Kelly

Images by Simeon Smith : Instagram