Faith
Come with all
Frederick Buechner’s rendering of the parable of the Great Banquet from Luke 14:16-24:
The “beautiful people” all send in their excuses, of course-their real estate, their livestock, their sex lives-so the host sends his social secretary out into the streets to bring in the poor, the maimed, the blind, the lame.
The string ensemble strikes up the overture to The Bartered Bride, the champagne glasses are filled, the cold pheasant is passed round, and there they sit by candlelight with their white canes and their empty sleeves, their orthopedic shoes, their sleazy clothes, their aluminum walkers. A woman with a harelip proposes a toast. An old man with the face of Lear on the heath and a party hat does his best to rise to his feet. A deaf-mute thinks people are starting to go home and pushes back from the table. Rose petals float in the finger bowls. The strings shift into the Liebestod.
Today, we’re thinking of all those who toil to bring everyone to the table.
Happy Thanksgiving.