A few years ago, Oprah had an authors' series in which she invited a small group of women to share a meal and conversation with authors like Maya Angelou and others.
Remember when you were a kid in school and the peer pressure in the cafeteria regarding who sat at which table? Were you sitting with the cool kids or the geeks? Did you sit alone or with a best friend?
When was the last time you shared a meal and some good heart-to-heart conversation? Or even prepared a wonderful meal for yourself, complete with tablecloth or placemat, candle or flowers, even a cloth napkin? I'm talking about setting a table for yourself with the kind of care and and thoughtfulness you might reserve for a special guest, or a romantic date.
It is a different feeling to prepare the table than it is to be invited to the table; one is not better than the other, but each one is a unique experience.
There is also the line in Psalm 23 that talks about the symbolic table to which we are invited. Here are a few interesting translations of that line:
You prepare a table for me in the midst of my adversity (Norman Fischer)
You prepare a table before me in the presence of all my
fears (Nan Merrill)
She sets a table before me, in the presence of my foes (Bobby McFerrin)
What are the foes, fears or adversities seated at the table of your soul? How are you addressing them? Is there a particular table to which you would like to receive an invitation? What would that be? Can you visualize the invitation? The table? How will you get ready?