Feasts With Friends

Food and friends, or should I say, food with friends: it hardly gets better than that...

Dec. 26: lunch with Jun

I hadn't seen Jun for almost 2 years, and in fact, we'd barely been in touch during that time, so to see him and eat a good meal with him was very special.  We ate Pakistani (lunch special!), at my favourite place on Fraser Street.

What a journey he's been on, I mean really!  From the Philippines as a priest to a monastery in Europe.  Then to Vancouver as a CPE student, and to Edmonton for a residency.  Now, feeling called to go and live in a monastery in Ontario but being told to remain in Vancouver.

Here's a man who in a sense epitomizes dying to self (Luke 9:23-24).  A gentle soul, a committed disciple, and perhaps most of all, someone who is open to push the boundaries and paradigms of the church, while refusing to give up on her and remaining within her.

Dec. 27: lunch with James and family

Two days in a row at my favourite restaurant!  This time, with James, Rosanna, and little Katie Marie.  And once more, Khalid proved himself to be the kind of host that's made him legendary: kind, open, funny, and hospitable.  At the end when we went up to the front to pay for our meal, he says to us with his usual smile (almost grin): "It's on me.  Merry Christmas.  Happy New Year."

James and Rosanna seem to be doing well.  It's been around 3 years now, since James began pastoring.  I always find our get-togethers encouraging and challenging at the same time.  He challenges my theological and spiritual views, but in a way that builds up.  He strengthens my faith in God.  After spending an hour or two with him, I always feel closer to God.

Dec. 27: dinner with Sanjit, Vero, and Karma

As if a lunch at Al Watan wasn't enough, 5 hours later I found myself at the Spaghetti Factory in New West, ordering dinner.  Add a second kilo to my weight gained in the past week...

Sanjit, Vero, Karma and I were originally planning to meet for dinner on Commercial Drive, but logistically it just ended up making more sense for us to go to the burbs.  

It was really good to see them.  We talked a lot about the soccerinos, and how the make-up of the group has changed.  Many people, including me, have moved on - physically to other places, or vocationally to other jobs or getting married.  For me, talking about the group in this way - almost as though it's a thing of the past - made me sad.  A part of me wants to say that once you have established solid friendships, you build your life around them, rather than the other way around, building our lives around our jobs.  But I'm coming to know that this is definitely naive or idealistic thinking.

All I know is that I have "tasted" good friendship, and to see it "wasted" like this not only makes me sad, it leaves me empty, with a sort of longing.  Maybe it's the kind of longing that will only be satisfied once I'm in heaven, standing side by side with my brothers and sisters who make up the "cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1-2).