The Kid's Table...

     This Thanksgiving Eve, something suddenly brought to my remembrance "the kid's table."  Whenever we gathered at my grandmother's home or later at my uncle's home, there was always "a kid's table."  We who were young relished "the kid's table" at Thanksgiving or during other family celebrations, where laughter abounded. 
     I remember one year when I was hesitant to eat something on my plate - as an elementary student, and my grandmother "Sugar," walking through the pantry where "the kid's table" was strategically placed.  She pointed to the nearest window and blurted out, "Santa's watchin'; y'all...better clean those plates...you and 'Bruce-y.'"
     Years later at my Uncle Bill's in Georgia, we still occupied "the kid's table" at the holiday gathering in the mid-1970's.  We were collegiate aged, but the feel was still the same.  We were still the next generation to wear the mantle of serious deliberation in a difficult world - with inflation, energy crises, and limited job opportunities.
     Somehow, I wish I could go back to those moments - when we shared "the kid's table" right after the Cuban Missile Crisis or years later when the world seemed so awry.  But now I'm the patriarch with many of the same aspirations and doubts as I had two thirds of the way through the last century.
     And now I occupy the main table, wishing I could go back again and have just one more conversation with all those who once occupied the main table and have passed forward the mantle of leadership.  Little eyes will soon peer my way, and what I can and hope to offer is a word of Thankfulness...Thankfulness that the world will be in good hands when these little ones leave the security of "the kid's table" to take our places at the main....

The Reign of Christ Sunday

     The Sunday that is fast approaching is the Reign of Christ Sunday.  It ends one period of Ecclesiastical Time and helps us prepare for another.  But for me, I'm reminded to "redeem the time."  New Years Eve is like that for many, but for me the joy of anticipation with the coming of Advent is the moment when I renew my enthusiasm for hope.  If, in fact, Christ comes anew and afresh, wouldn't it be phenomenal if we saw Him present in our midst.  We will...watch, wait, be hopeful, because Christ truly reigns, and the serendipity of it all is that the Triune God can't wait to catch us off guard, to surprise us, and to bless us in remarkable ways.

     Today, as on every Wednesday and Thursday, I was blessed by the students of Little Saints Christian School.  They couldn't wait to lift their offerings high above their heads as we prayed a prayer of consecration - that their gifts would touch many lives with the reach of Jesus.  They clung to the plate, and I hope that Susan caught their eagerness, "hands-on" dedication, and the wonder in their eyes with her camera, as these children reminded me once again that the best is yet to be when we share our days with threes, fours, and young fives, filled with eager anticipation.  That's what beginning a new cycle of Ecclesiastical Time is all about...starting fresh with child-like wonder.