Friendship at the Margins, part 2

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In a recent post, I recommended a book my friends Chris Heuertz and Christine Pohl recently published — Friendship at the Margins: Discovering Mutuality in Service and Mission.  I return to the book again, because Faith & Leadership recently excerpted a chapter, “Mutuality in Mission,” written by Christine.  She writes about her experiences serving refugees with her church in New York, and the ways in which Catholic Workers demonstrated friendship with those other New Yorkers avoided.  She concludes with a rich meditation on the importance of eating together.  She asks, “With whom am I eating? Who is invited, and who is left out? Our meals become kingdom meals especially when people who are usually overlooked find a place — a place of welcome and value.”

I hope this sampling whets your appetite.

About the Author: Chris Rice is co-director of the Center for Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School.  He is author of Reconciling All Things, Grace Matters, and More Than Equals. He writes regularly at the blog Reconcilers.


One response

  1. Reggie

    Our Racial Reconciliation Supper Clubs in Raleigh, North Carolina focused on that very thing–what happens when we come together over a meal. Seems we lay down our agendas and our hangups, the fellowship at a dinner table is much more relaxing and I get to see the real you. We lay our masks down at the table and the sacred cows go home. I always say “food makes friends!”

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