Evendays

We host a meal about twice a month, where people can come to the house, eat Wife’s good cooking and practice their English afterwards when I lead a discussion on a Bible text. Normally, it’s just our family with one or two people from church and a couple of visitors. The discussion lasts an hour, but participants habitually stay for a tea and “biscuits”. Although we’ve been doing this for 15 years, it hasn’t been a very successful program. It hasn’t grown and, to tell the truth, there’s about an evening a year when no one comes.

Confession: I tend to judge our home meetings, Bible studies (catechism), even Sunday worship times and LKT meetings as rather insignificant. Yet I know the people who come are significant. L. comes from the next town over. She’s totaled her cars three times in the last 4 years. She traveled by bus-train-bus last night and brought me a book published in 1845… A. has come since the beginning. She was one of my first students in the language school where I used to teach… H. attends, always bringing something to eat… M., a Muslim, came for years, but her job and grandchildren make it hard now…

Last night we were thirteen. S., J., and a neighbor who came for the first time were present. We spent an hour on 1 Corinthians 13… Reminding me, of course, love sees no individual, or event, as insignificant.