Soul Food Advent Blog Series 2018: 'Room at the Table'
Guest blogger: James White
Part IV: Worth and Where to Find it
When I was lost in Newcastle, I tasted something of what it means to be on the edge of worthlessness. I felt in a small way what many people must feel deeply every day of their lives.
I sat at a table in solitude and tried to solve the problems of my life alone, within my own head.
There was nothing about my appearance that would have suggested this was the case, but those people who took the time to pray saw something in me.
They chose to view me through God’s eyes and they encouraged me with words that spoke directly to who I was inside.
What the Ginger Geordie scribbled on the paper he handed me told me of my internal worth, and reading it I realized I was already connected to something beyond myself, that there was indeed still a table with my name on the napkin ring.
I couldn’t see it, and didn’t know it but those people saw me and recognized worth in me in a moment when I wasn’t able to see it and the timing of it, and the things they said of me on that piece of scrap paper were nothing short of a miracle.
I still keep the piece of scrap paper in my journal, my most prized possession.
It is tangible, physical evidence that miracles happen when you look for them in the right places.
I was shown then that I have internal worth and this miracle has acted as a reminder for me to try and see this worth in every person I encounter.
There are so many people who are lost, who find themselves on the margins, who do not know where they belong. This may be manifested in their lives in extreme, physical circumstances or it could be wreaking havoc in their closest relationships or even at work.
Perhaps they don’t have a home or anything to eat and spend their lives asking for money outside John Lewis, or perhaps they live in a big house in the posh part of town and they are an executive partner at John Lewis and their despair can only be read by the lines across their face.
We’re all the same so either way, if you feel compelled, go and tell someone their worth.
Tell the them there is a strength within them that maybe they’ve never tapped into.
Look them in the eye and tell them they are loved, that they’re a good person, that joy is available to them and is potentially just round the corner.
Tell them there is a place at the round table of the kingdom for them, with their name written on the napkin ring that will never be taken by someone else.
Continue in love. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. - Hebrews 13:1-2
James White is a 37 year old Yorkshireman who works for a global fashion company. He has been part of Soul Food Edinburgh for the past for 4 years and is is fanatical about football, food and finding meaning in just about anything. He knows nothing about fashion.