The Table

Back in the old izzy days, we had a soup kitchen type of deal going on that we nicknamed 'The Table'. And the term "soup kitchen" is a very poor description. I guess 'soup kitchen' can be a real pejorative term...conjuring up images of faceless crowds standing in a long line for...tasteless soup. And I personally have never cared for soup. Unless it's 'sizzling rice soup' at my favorite local chinese dig. But at izzy, we really believed that we should give our best rather than giving what's easy. But any rate, The Table was an intimate dining experience for our friends on the streets. The menu was always nutritional, home-cooking type of grub. Like the kind of food you'd really eat at home with a family. You know, not always 'fancy' but always 'good'. The dining area was set up with several cafe' style tables and the space we had could sit up to 40 people at a time.

Well...sure, people who were hungry and had no food to eat or no way to cook food received a good meal. And I suppose at the very least, 'being fed' is a good thing. In the book, the 58th chapter of Isaiah talks about "sharing your food with the hungry".

I had a friend once (yes, once) who was one of those bible scholar types, the kind of guy who is about 180 degree opposite of me. But he was a genuine guy. Not arrogant about his intelligence at all. And he could read several languages...all of which he taught himself. Languages relevant to biblical research like Greek and Hebrew. Well, this guy and the bossman (a character I've yet to give a proper introduction to on this blog) did a full word study on the 58th chapter of Isaiah. And come to find out, all of the mentions of "fast" in the text was NOT a reference to abstaining from food. The actual Hebrew word for fast (in this case) was "Tsum" (I think, forgive the misspellings). And "Tsum", pronounced "SOOM", literally meant "to cover one's mouth with your hand" (ie: abstain from talking). And in the context of Isaiah 58, the 'abstaining from talking' was so that one could LISTEN TO THE PLIGHT OF THE POOR. In other words...shut your fat yap and quit spouting off easy answers and JUST be a listening ear to the poor. Maybe the CEO will come up with the answers and not YOU. Anyway, I didn't actually do this word study as I've received it second hand, so if anyone has more to offer on that subject...comment away.

'Listening' has been more of my personality as opposed to 'talking'. So listening came easy to me. But making the commitment to sit and listen to someone's banter isn't easy for anyone. So I guess all of this to say...The Table was more like a psychiatrist's couch than a soup kitchen. Or maybe a Catholic confession booth minus the curtain and priest. And no holy water, but a lot of coffee.

Out in public, it's far easier to toss a guy some spare change or a five dollar bill than it is to buy him a meal...and sit...and listen...and eat with him.

Lord - forgive me for taking the easy way out so many times..