Yesterday night was the first dinner club meeting in this year’s cycle [1], and I managed to eat with people I knew, but only one of the couples I ate with was one I had eaten out with before. As has been the case regularly in my dinner club experiences, the conversation (which lasted about three hours or so) was excellent and combined both serious and humorous moments, and fortunately there were only a few somewhat awkward moments, such as one of the people at the table who was seated near me who seemed a bit unwilling to contribute to the general discussion at the table (and who I feel a bit bad for not making feel more welcome and free to talk, as I tend to be sensitive to people who are a bit shy in a given context), and only a few references to people getting married and the unmerited pleasure of finding people willing to stay with you despite life’s difficulties and one’s personality quirks. Not all are so fortunate.

It is, all in all, fascinating to hear of the stories that others have to share. I have lived a fairly dramatic and traumatic life, of which I write often here, but it is fascinating to hear of the lives that others have lived and the lessons they have learned. One of my dinner companions, for example, narrowly managed to escape a horrible fire as a toddler at the end of WWII when the Nazis were busy destroying what they were no longer going to be able to misrule, and managed to cheer on another member of our congregation who had performed in the Olympics in person, only to become friends later on. Besides this, I had the chance to demonstrate my memory with regards to various matters of biblical and historical interest, to the stunned surprise of most of my dinner companions who did not seem to understand that such analytical rigor and detail was of importance besides being evidence of my personality quirks.

Of particular interest is the discussion we had on a subject of continual interest in the Church of God, and that is the subject of the Place of Safety, however one defines it. Our discussions included wondering how we would get along if our brethren, instead of being at safe distances along roads and across rivers, were our next door neighbors, with whom we had to get along as brethren in a village or a small town, without the safety that distance provides. We were all in general agreement that there would be adjustments, the need for a common goal (of which, as believers in a common faith, that would not be lacking), as well as the need for some sort of overall authority and structure so that everyone could find a proper place for their own benefit as well as the benefit of the larger group. It was pleasing to hear such serious and thoughtful conversations about matters I think about with little satisfaction. To hear people whom I respect and get along with puzzle over questions of belonging and community is heartening, as such questions have long haunted my life.

After our long and fascinating discussion, which occurred over some excellent food, we mapped out in an organized fashion our dates for the next three dinners on the cycle. As the person most interested in setting down a proper schedule, I volunteered for the next opening, although it is likely to be the most plain of the lot, on paper plates and bowls, in a place without a dinner table and normal chairs. At any rate, I suppose I would like to get used to hosting people as it would make me a more confident person in general in society, as it was a habit my maternal family was fond of, at any rate, and one I would like to do more. As I have adorable small children asking to be invited over, I cannot forever be unwilling to let people in, however humble and austere the conditions of my life are, and making sure I have the obligation to do that which I struggle with may make my own life better in due time. Is that not the end to which my ceaseless toil and anxiety are directed, after all?

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/the-damascas-dinner-club-party/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/what-kind-of-roadkill-was-it/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/seating-chart/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/06/01/a-taste-of-thailand/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/a-sheltered-cove/