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Dear Friends, Christmas and New Year are a while away now. Yet I still seem to be trying to catch up with things that were shelved over the holiday period. My lasting memory of this year’s events, not counting the services, seems to be of food. I seem to have eaten lots of lovely meals and snacks in any number of different places. This set me thinking about food and meals in particular. Food as such has never been something I get wildly excited about. I eat what comes, thankfully, but unlike David it’s not a passionate interest of mine, though I do get irritable if I’m actually hungry. We were models for the original Jack Sprat and his wife. However, that apart, there is something very special about eating with others. Do you know that in the gospels there are more references to Jesus and meals than to Jesus and healing? The Jews had innumerable laws regarding food - what they could eat and how it should be prepared. There were strict rules of hospitality, in common with many other cultures, and also laws as to with whom one could eat. Much furious debate was occasioned in the early church around issues of food. There is something very special about eating with others - something of greater significance for the bonding of people than we often give credit for. The old saying ‘He’s got his legs under the table’ for someone who is becoming one of the family still rings true, even in our world of tele meals and microwave snacks. I always remember two elderly and somewhat old-fashioned sisters who came to the hall, of the church I was attending, the first time coffee was served after the service. It was extraordinary. They were so excited about it and from being a couple of distant ladies one politely said ‘Good morning’ to, they became genuine friends. I still cherish memories of visits to their house. It is of supreme significance that at the centre of our worship there should be a meal. The Eucharist binds us to God and to each other in a very particular way. We must eat and drink to live. We much accept Christ’s spirit within us to live spiritually. But just as it is the same food it is also the same Spirit who is in each of us, joining us into one community. As we leave behind the time of feasting and move towards Lent and the time of fasting, let us make every effort to meet together to break and also to feed on the Word of God in the scriptures. Yours, Janice |