Fourteen Church Friends Go to a Restaurant

Last night I was part of the kind of diverse group that rarely happens outside of church groups.  There were 14 of us, and we weren't all born in the U.S.  We were mostly white (both the kind of white that's descended from Northern Europeans and the Latino kind), but from a wide variety of incomes.  Some of us have children, some of us have grandchildren, some of us do not.  We've traveled more widely than most U.S. folks.  We're mostly centrist or left of center when it comes to our political views, but some of us might track a bit more conservatively if there was a non-Trumpian politician out there.  We all go to the same Lutheran church, but we're not uniform in our theology either.

We came together for one last meal before two of our group move to be closer to their granddaughter.  Several times I wondered why we don't do this more often--but the honest answer is that we all cleared out our calendars because it was the last chance for this kind of dinner.  I don't know that we'd have had the commitment without an impending move.

With the exception of saying grace before eating, I don't think anyone would have realized that we know each other from church.  We didn't sit around and discuss theology, although I'd have liked that--or maybe I wouldn't have, depending on how that conversation might have unspooled.

We talked a bit of church business, but mostly, we caught up on the comings and goings of our group.  It was wonderful.

It also made me realize how seldom I have these kinds of conversations or the even deeper kinds of conversations that I crave--either with groups of church friends or others.  Our church has moved away from the interactive service that used to foster these interactions.  Part of me understands, but part of me is still grieving the move.

Let me spend some time both with the good feelings from last night and the sadness that I don't have more of these times.  I don't have lots of spare hours--how can I enrich what I'm already doing?