Come to the Table

by Neta Jackson

  Kat pushed her thoughts aside. She was making too much of an offhand comment. She’d just ask Livie if she found the right moment . . . or maybe forget the whole thing. Digging into the backpacks, she brought out the chicken, pasta salad, and munchies while Brygitta and Rochelle laid out paper plates, napkins, and small bottles of fruit juice.

  “See, Elin,” Olivia said, helping herself to the pasta salad, “no worries about spoiled mayo in this heat, because it’s seasoned with vinaigrette or something. Hang around Kat long enough, and you learn a few tricks like that.” She gave Kat a playful push. “But come on, you guys, I still need to hear what’s been happening since I left!”

  They talked and laughed and ate until the concert started and the community music schools were introduced to much clapping and cheers. They couldn’t see the chamber groups onstage unless they stood up and walked over to the rows of “ticket seats” closer to the stage, but Kat didn’t mind. She lay back on the grass, backpack under her head for a pillow, and closed her eyes, letting the rich sounds of strings and horns and reeds fill the evening with lyrical sounds. These local groups weren’t bad. Not bad at all.

  Conny quickly got bored with the concert and whined about going home, but somehow Rochelle got him to cuddle up with his head in her lap and he soon fell asleep—not even waking when the concert was over and Nick hauled him up over his shoulder and carried him as they walked to the subway station.

  “Sweet.” Elin grinned as the rest of them walked behind, pulling the suitcases.

  The El was crowded with concertgoers heading home, but they all managed to get on the same car, with Rochelle and Nick—still carrying Conny—finding seats toward the front, and Kat and the others scattered here and there. But as the car gradually emptied at various stops, Kat, Brygitta, Olivia, and Elin managed to get double seats close together.

  “Thanks, guys.” Olivia sighed, twisting in the seat ahead of Kat and Bree. “Couldn’t ask for a better birthday. I’ve really missed all of you—and I wanted Elin to meet you so much.”

  Elin grinned playfully. “That’s all Livie talks about—the Four Musketeers! I think she was jealous, though, when she heard you found someone else to move in so quickly after she left.”

  Olivia’s cheeks colored. “Okay, so I was, a little. But it’s been fun to meet Rochelle and Conny. She’s really sweet. God worked it all out, didn’t He?” She glanced toward the front of the car. “You didn’t tell me she was so pretty, though! She could be a model, don’t you think? And Conny—he seems like a super kid.”

  Kat saw Elin’s eyes follow her sister’s glance. “Those two.” The teenager tipped her head in Nick and Rochelle’s direction with a sly smile. “Are they, you know, an item?”

  Kat stared at the girl, her mouth suddenly going dry.

  “Nah,” Bree said quickly. “Nothing like that. Why?”

  “I don’t know. They look cute together. I think she likes him. And Conny sure adores Nick. Every kid needs a father to look up to—I oughta know, right, Livie?” Elin sighed. “Wish our mom would choose someone like Nick—except older. Nick would make a good dad for Conny, don’t you think?”

  Kat was flabbergasted. The girl needed to shut up. But she noticed that Olivia’s face wore a tiny smile.

  Kat hunkered down in her seat and closed her eyes, as if dozing the rest of the way home. Back at the apartment they got Olivia and Elin settled in the study on the futon and made up a bed on the couch for Nick, while Rochelle disappeared into the far bedroom with the still-groggy Conny. Kat had imagined they’d talk that night until the wee hours, but they all went to bed.

  The apartment gradually quieted until only the fan disturbed the silence. But Kat was wide awake, staring into the darkness. She heard Bree’s bedsprings squeak. “Kat?” It sounded as if Bree had risen up on one elbow. “You don’t think Elin’s right, do you? That Rochelle is sweet on Nick? I mean, she just appreciates Nick taking an interest in Conny, don’t you think?”

  Kat didn’t answer. Slowing her breathing, she pretended to be asleep.

  But . . . was that what Olivia meant when she’d said, “He’s not the only one”?

  Chapter 25

  Don’t want to miss Jesus.”

  Kat opened her eyes with a start. Thin streams of daylight peeked into the bedroom through the Venetian blinds. It must be morning . . . but where did that thought come from?

  Oh right. That’s what that older man said the other night when she’d asked why he volunteered at the food pantry. Funny. She still didn’t know what he meant.

  Well, she was awake now. Might be nice to get up and have a little quiet time before the hurly-burly of everyone getting up and out the door to church. They had another whole day with Olivia and Elin, which would be fun, since it was a lot cheaper for the sisters to leave early Monday morning than Sunday evening. But this might be the only time she’d have all weekend to read her Bible and pray by herself—a habit that wasn’t quite a habit yet, and she was still working her way through the list of scriptures Nick had helped her find about food.

  Clad in a pair of leggings and an oversize T-shirt, Kat tiptoed through the living room, past the long lump on the couch that was Nick, still sacked out, and into the kitchen. She quietly made a pot of coffee, then eased out the kitchen door onto the back porch of the apartment with a steaming cup in one hand and her Bible and the list of scriptures in the other.

  Sparrows chirped and flitted in the trees that somehow managed to survive in the tiny backyards along the alley, and blue sky peeked between scattered clouds above the rooftops. The early morning coolness after a muggy night felt like a kiss. What a morning! And the fragrant coffee was perfect. Mm, this was nice, very nice.

  “Don’t want to miss Jesus.”

  The man’s strange comment pricked her mind again. And his wife had jumped in as if explaining what he meant. Something about sheep and goats in chapter 25 of Matthew.

  Why not look it up? Kat put down her coffee cup and opened her Bible to the New Testament. She found the gospel of Matthew and skimmed through chapter 25 until she came to a heading that said “The sheep and the goats.” Hmm. Seemed to be talking about the end times and who would be going into heaven. The King—obviously Jesus—was inviting “the righteous” to receive their reward. She read silently.

  “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these . . . you did for me.”

  Hey, this scripture talked about giving the hungry something to eat, as well as a lot of other things, like taking care of the sick and visiting people in prison. Was Matthew 25 on her list? Yes, there it was. But there was more to the story. Another group—the goats—was sent to “eternal punishment” because they didn’t feed the hungry and all that. And King Jesus said, “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

  Whoa. That was deep.

  Kat stared at nothing in particular, mulling it over. The least of these. Obviously talking about ordinary folks who don’t seem important, the poor, the homeless—people like that. So what did the man at Rock of Ages mean when he said, “Don’t want to miss Jesus”? He worked at the food pantry, helping to feed hungry people, because . . . he might miss doing it for Jesus?

  Kat sipped on her coffee. Why did she want to feed hungry people? She was still getting used to thinking about the people who were hungry, not just about “food issues.” But it hadn’t occurred to her that by feeding hungry people, she’d be doing it for Jesus.


  Or that not doing it was neglecting Jesus.

  Whew. She needed to think about this a lot more. Kat was almost glad when she heard noises in the apartment—voices yelling, “I’m next!” for the shower, no doubt, and Conny’s feet running back and forth. Yikes. Speaking of hungry people, there were seven of them for breakfast this morning! She should make cheese and veggie omelets or something—something special. And—double yikes! Today was Second Sunday Potluck after worship, and they hadn’t even thought about what to take. She’d better get rolling!

  At Brygitta’s urging, Kat gave up the idea of making something for the potluck, deciding instead to pick up a watermelon on the way to church. The Douglasses gave Rochelle and Conny a ride to church, and Kat realized that if Rochelle and her folks took Conny to see his daddy after the potluck, it would just be the ol’ Four Musketeers—plus Livie’s sister—for the rest of the afternoon, a relief in a way. Might temper Elin’s “matchmaking,” which had gotten pretty darn uncomfortable.

  Olivia seemed excited to be back at SouledOut after nearly a month, and people greeted her and her sister warmly. Elin’s eyes were wide, taking it all in. “Never been to a church in a mall,” she stage-whispered to Kat. “But I like those banners. Who made them?”

  Three colorful new banners hung at the front of the big room behind the low platform. On closer inspection, it was apparent that some of the Sunday school classes and the youth group had made the banners with simple felt figures, symbols, and words. The banner in the middle said, “It’s a new commandment! Love one another.” The banner on one side showed a Jesus figure in a white robe washing somebody’s feet. On the other side, a little boy held out what looked like a basket with bread and fish in it, giving it to Jesus—the white robe again.

  “Do you think Jesus really wore a white robe all the time?” Kat murmured to Elin.

  The teenager giggled. “Probably not. They didn’t have washing machines back then.” She tipped her head to the side, studying the banners. “Interesting. The kids gave Jesus a brown face and dark hair . . . Were they being realistic, you think? Making Him more Middle Eastern? Or making Him like themselves?”

  “I think we all do that,” Nick butted in, coming up behind them. “Make Jesus like ourselves, I mean . . . Hey, we better find seats. Service is ready to start.”

  As it turned out, the banners were part of Pastor Cobbs’s message that morning. The sermons were still focusing on things Jesus said just before and just after His death and resurrection, even though Good Friday and Easter were long past. “Today our text is from John’s gospel, chapter 13,” the pastor said, once the praise team had put their instruments away and everyone had settled down.

  After reading the biblical story, Pastor Cobbs said, “The disciples were shocked by what Jesus did. Washing their dirty feet! He wasn’t just making Himself ‘one of them,’ like a buddy or friend. No, washing feet was what servants and slaves did in a culture where people wore sandals and walked on dirt roads most of the year. Peter was too embarrassed to let Jesus do it. His big ol’ feet were probably cracked and grimy, with dirt under his toenails. Maybe stinky too. ‘No way!’ he said. Until Jesus said that if he didn’t let his feet be washed, he couldn’t be part of this New Way. So of course, Peter being Peter, now he wanted Jesus to give him a whole bath! It was always all or nothing.”

  Kat laughed along with everyone else but suspected she wasn’t the only one who squirmed a little. All or nothing. Yeah, that sounded familiar.

  Pastor Cobbs chuckled as he looked at his Bible. “I like this next part. Jesus said, okay, now, do you guys understand what I just did? Uh-huh. Sometimes I feel like saying that here after I give one of my sermons. ‘Hey, people! Do you understand what I just said? Did you get it?’ ’Cause sometimes I wonder . . .” The pastor mopped his perspiring face with a small hand towel as people snickered. “Okay, I’m getting off topic. Jesus said, you call Me Teacher. You call Me Master. And I just washed your feet! I’m setting you an example. I want you to serve one another just like that.”

  “That’s right, Pastor!”

  “Say it now!”

  Several voices chimed in from around the congregation. Kat wondered what Elin was thinking. No one ever talked to the pastor during a sermon in other church services she’d attended since becoming a Christian. But she was getting used to it at SouledOut. Why not let the pastor know you got the point?

  As Pastor Cobbs wrapped up his sermon, he focused on several verses later in the same chapter. “As this special supper came to the end, Jesus told His disciples He was giving them a new commandment. To love one another. Why was it new? Because He was showing them what God’s kind of love looked like. Not the kind of love the world practiced—I’ll be nice to you if you’re nice to me, the ol’ scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Or I’ll love you as long as you don’t mess up. No. God’s kind of love means serving each other. Doing the dirty work. Sacrificing your own plans. Sacrificing yourself. Being hurt and not hurting back. Forgiving when you’ve been done wrong— that kind of ‘love one another.’”

  By this time, several people were on their feet, including Avis Douglass and her husband. Some people were crying. Over the hubbub, Kat heard Avis cry out, “Jesus! Help us be more like You!”

  Kat cast an eye at Olivia and Elin. Pastor Cobbs’s sermon today was a little more emotional than usual. She hoped Livie’s sister wasn’t too turned off. Because the man could really preach. And make Scripture sound as if it’d been written just yesterday. For today.

  As the service closed, Nick leaned close to Kat’s ear. “And I’m supposed to preach next week. How am I supposed to follow that?” Kat gave him a reassuring squeeze on the arm—but frankly, in his shoes she’d be nervous too.

  As tables were set up and food brought out for the potluck, Bree and Olivia cut up the watermelon and arranged it on one of the church platters. Kat looked for Edesa, hoping to ask if her Honduran friend had any helpful thoughts about the food pantry idea, especially with her master’s degree in public health. But Edesa, her mother-in-law, Jodi, and Avis Douglass were all huddled together in a corner of the room talking earnestly about something, and then she saw them holding hands and praying together.

  Wonder what that’s about?

  She did manage to catch Edesa after the meal long enough to tell her she was going to meet with the pastoral team Monday night, but that was all. “I’m sorry, mi amiga,” Edesa said, trying to clean spaghetti out of Gracie’s dark locks. “I do want to hear what God has been saying to you this week about the food pantry. Can you call me during the week? Maybe after your meeting tomorrow night? I will be praying— Gracie! Come back here!”

  Kat felt a bit disgruntled as Edesa ran after her escapee. Arrrgh. It wasn’t as easy as Mrs. D made it seem to get people to pray with her.

  But the afternoon with Olivia and Elin turned out to be a lot of fun, and for a few hours at least Kat put cappuccinos and tutoring lesson plans and hungry people out of her mind as the five of them played a pickup version of Ultimate Frisbee out on the sand at Pratt Beach, adding total strangers to their teams as the game got wilder and funnier. After nose-diving into the sand a few times too many, they cooled down by walking along the long concrete “bench-wall” running between park and beach, looking at the different sections painted by various community groups, families, churches, and individuals. “Gets painted all over again every spring,” a fat man informed them helpfully as he came by walking a yappy little dog.

  By the time the Douglasses brought Rochelle and Conny home, they’d ordered two deep-dish pizzas from Giordano’s and rented Secondhand Lions. But it was rated PG, so movie time had to wait until Conny went to bed—and he begged “Mister Nick” to read to him, which put off the movie even longer. Kat noticed that Olivia and Elin exchanged sly glances.

  “Sorry.” Rochelle grimaced as “big guy” and “little guy” disappeared. “Seems like he especially wants Nick to read to him after spending the afternoon with his d
ad.”

  “Yeah, I can understand that,” Elin snorted. “That’s how I feel about my Uncle Ben after visiting my mom and that loser she’s dating. Feel like I need to hang around somebody male who feels safe, just to get my head back on straight.”

  Rochelle gave her a high five. “You got it, girl.”

  The movie went till eleven, accompanied by copious amounts of popcorn, soft drinks, and bellyaching laughter at the antics of the two old codgers played by Michael Caine and Robert Duvall. But then it was time for last-minute hugs and good-byes, because when Kat woke up the next morning, Livie and Elin were already gone, escorted by Nick on the El to be sure they caught the six o’clock Megabus.

  Chapter 26

  Monday was one of those days—busy from start to finish, as well as warm and sticky. Kat got permission from Mrs. Douglass to take her three STEP students to the neighborhood library on Clark Street to get library cards and check out books. She insisted that they keep the books at the school to begin with, until they had an understanding with the parents about when books had to be returned. But she had fun reading Charlotte’s Web to them, encouraging the kids to read short passages along the way.

  Then she had to hustle to The Common Cup for the afternoon shift and never did get a chance to eat lunch. By the time Kat arrived back at the apartment at five thirty, she was hot, tired, and seriously hungry, and ate two helpings of Nick’s college-guy-version of shepherd’s pie, even if it did have too much hamburger in it.

  Kat freshened up with a shower after supper, hoping she and Nick could walk to SouledOut for the pastoral team meeting, but he said Avis Douglass had already offered to drive them and it was hard to turn down an air-conditioned ride after the hot, muggy day. Mrs. D seemed preoccupied about something, though, and didn’t talk much on the way, though she did say she’d been praying about Kat’s idea all week and was looking forward to their conversation that evening.