Last summer our daughter, Amy, went to visit a few places in England she had missed the year her family was living there. She sent me this picture with a text that simply said: “I had breakfast here this morning.” The picture took my breath away.
“Where are you?” I texted back.
She answered that she was in Durham and had stayed at the castle which is used as a Bed & Breakfast in the summer. The whole estate has become part of Durham University, the third oldest university in England (after Oxford and Cambridge); the university uses the Durham Cathedral as a dining hall for students and guests.
But my mind was stuck on the picture. Wow! What if this were a church? And what if when you went there on Sunday, this is what you saw when you entered the sanctuary? And what if there was a seat with a place card for you—a card with a mirror on it so that you would see your face when you picked it up?
And what if there were twice as many places set as the church thought would be there? And what if after you had your fill of food and fellowship and singing and conversations, you took an extra place card with you and gave it to that young man at work or the single mom next door, or the new immigrant family across the street and said: We had this special place set for you at the table. Want to come sit by me next Sunday for breakfast?
And what if there were no “church-building” ulterior motives except to break bread together, sing our hearts out, and enjoy the bounties of the Lord? What if we could confess our most urgent worry and find prayer, support, and understanding without judgement or condescension?
I know now that this was just a bed in a castle and breakfast in a cathedral, but what if...?
