Together Alone

So I'm sitting in Moda tonight drinking a latte and reading a book. As usual I glance around from time to time just to see what's happening. Nothing much.

Then I noticed something different. You know how you only really notice things when they've changed or are different or out of place? Well sitting around me at tables or on sofas were small groups of people, in two or threes, drinking coffee or eating a meal while chatting and laughing together. All normal, expected sights and sounds. But it was the couple sitting opposite me that caught my attention. They were probably in their mid-twenties. She had a couple of bags from shopping and he was wearing a tie. They must have arrived just before me because they were ordering some food as I was taking a seat on the sofa that has been broken for at least four weeks. Here's why I noticed them. Apart from placing and then changing their order I hardly heard or saw them talk anymore. They just seemed to sit and eat their meal together alone.

I thought this was kind of sad.

They didn't seem to be upset or angry with each other. They just didn't seem to talk much. Now I'm not one for great communication skills, but I wished the guy had at least asked the girl how her meal was or offered her a taste of his.


I like the idea in post-modern theology that seeks to find something sacred in sharing a meal with people. It's so much more than just eating food. It's about being in community, in common union, in communion.

Some churches share bread and wine as powerful symbols of Christ's death. In our form of church we like to share a meal and seek the presence of God in this common act.

God help me to never let people feel alone when I am with them.

The High School

About once a month I do morning assembly at 'The High School' in Rathgar. I have to say that I really enjoy it. It's one of my favourite areas of ministry. I pretty much just do a short thought for the day to try and relate some aspect of God or the Christian faith to life, but I find it an immense privilege. The students are great.

Anyway, today for my thought I mentioned this blog and shamelessly promoted the address. I have this feeling that no one else reads my blogs (except for my wife) so I used the thought of feeling like no one notices you - but God does.

Here's a great verse from Psalm 8

"When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him?"


I'm doing the assembly again for the junior half of the school. We'll see if anyone notices...

Killing Birds

I went to the supermarket tonight to so some grocery shopping. I don't particularly enjoy this experience at the best of times, but especially when it's raining. Even more so when the store is busy.

I asked the girl at the checkout if it was usually this busy on a Thursday. She said it wasn't, but suggested that people might have thought that they would be closed tomorrow for St Patrick's Day. They won't be. In fact the only saint they close for is Stephen (Dec. 26), plus Jesus for Christmas and Easter - although I did detect a slight uncertainty in the girl's voice about why they close for Easter.

Speaking of which, there were plenty of Easter Eggs on display. I need to start thinking about which one I'd like this year for our celebration on "Chocolate Day" - a little family tradition on Easter Monday. I did overhear someone saying that they had always wished that the Cadbury Creme Egg easter eggs where giant size creme eggs instead of just hollow. I don't think they were the only one...am I right?

While I was picking up some flour (my wife bakes such delicious goodies), someone else was getting excited about seeing a Bob the Builder cup cake mix. They hadn't had a Bob the Builder cake for years (!) and decided to get the packet. I turned around to see two college age students doing their weekly shop. Being a college student is great. The freedom from home, but also the freedom to still be a bit childish.

What has any of this got to do with coffee?

Well, in the shopping centre that houses the supermarket there is also a Starbucks which I have yet to go to. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and drink coffee while getting the groceries. That's another Starbucks off my list. In fact it was the first Starbucks to arrive in Dublin, but I hadn't gone in until now. Usually there is a long queue and I draw the line at doing that just for a coffee.

As I strolled the aisles of Tesco it made me feel different than everybody else - slightly sophisticated I thought. It was like everyone was thinking, darn, I wish I had got a coffee to help with my shopping.

TIP: Shopping trolleys don't have cup holders as a standard feature, but I discovered an alternative. The child seat.

Looking to the Side

I went to Coffee Society tonight in the next "suburb" over. It's a small coffeehouse with just a few tables including some outside on the main street and a couple out back which mostly seat smokers. (I love the public indoor smoking ban in Ireland. You really notice a difference.)

There are only two armchairs, but they were both empty which was good. What was not so good, however, was the Apple and Five Spice muffin. Dry.

To read I took along 'The Jesus Creed' by Scot McKnight. It's ok. It's a book about spiritual formation around the commandment of Jesus to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbour. A very good creed to live by - it boils religion down to a minimum, but with the potential for huge impact.

I liked the phrase that McKnight uses for community and social action. Referring to the story of the Good Samaritan he writes that we should be "looking to the side" for an opportunity to serve people in need in acts of neighbourly love. We see the ministry that my wife and I lead as very much neighbourhood based. McKnight presented a good reminder that "our home is also in our neighbourhood." We shouldn't neglect service and ministry under our own roof.

I'm sure I'll comment more on this book again. I drove home praying for my neighbourhood and community, asking God to show me people with needs.

Coffee to go

I haven't published a post recently as I have been aware for a little while. My wife and I (and our daughter) were over in England for a conference for a few days. We also took the opportunity to visit my family and friends and drink some coffee.

Some of the memorable locations for coffee and talking included:

• Complementary coffee from the (free!) upgrade lounge on the ferry crossing.
• The Tea Rooms at Hampton Court catching up with some good friends (although most of the catching up was me chasing my daughter around the tables apologizing to other customers).
• In a Travelodge room with my wife and daughter.
• At a cafe in the underground shopping area of Canary Warf in London.
• At the Starbucks in Borders bookshop (what a great combination) while my parents were babysitting and my wife and I looked through books of baby names.
• And, perhaps most memorable of all for good and bad reasons, the Krispy Kreme cafe in Bluewater shopping centre. Bad because it got wrapped up in a painful twenty minute (unscheduled) separation from my unresourced wife and full bladdered daughter. Good because...well you really have to have a Krispy Kreme doughnut fresh from the conveyor belt to understand.