The first time I saw Daniel, he was in our high school cafeteria, sitting all alone at a table with seven empty chairs. He had lank blond hair hanging over his eyes, wore a wrinkled army jacket, and sat hunched over his food tray. His knife was clinched in his right fist and his fork in his left, both pointed down. The body language was unmistakable: He expected an attack on his food and was prepared to defend it.
In the movie, Mean Girls, the new girl in school is warned on her first foray into the cafeteria: “Beware of The Plastics” (i.e., the mean girls). Bullying. That was the problem with The Plastics in Mean Girls; not that they were a clique, but that the alpha Plastic was a sociopath. She used her alpha status to bully everyone else (“On Wednesdays, we wear pink”).
What was it like in your high school? Did you have a “mean girls” clique? Were there groups that intentionally excluded people, groups that made exclusion a central part of their structure? We didn’t have a lot of that in my high school. So, I had to wonder: Why was Daniel sitting all alone, poised to injure the next person who reached toward his food?
Daniel had enemies. He had been bullied, a lot. By the time we met, Daniel was already a frightened, combative person. It was Daniel against the world at that point. He was so traumatized, he could no longer tell friend from foe, so victimized that anyone who came near him was suspect. For many, this would be the “darkest valley” referenced in this week’s 23rd Psalm (“the valley of the shadow of death”)—a horrible, hellish existence of hyper-vigilance, never broken by a moment’s peace.
The 23rd Psalm sounds pretty pastoral—at first. But then you realize some hard times must have preceded those “green pastures” and “still waters.” There are reasons David needed the Shepherd to restore his soul. Did David write those words while fleeing for his life, King Saul’s soldiers dogging his trail? Or perhaps it was when he was playing music and Saul hurled a spear at him. At what point did David finally admit to himself that Saul really was his enemy?
I wish I knew whatever happened to Daniel. My attempts to befriend him failed. Sadly, my last impression of him was the same as my first, the exact opposite of the 23rd Psalm. I sometimes imagine what it would be like for Daniel if God showed up for lunch one day and saved him a place at the table. What if God made him the guest of honor at that meal, one at which he could eat without fear, one at which no bullies had power over him? A lunch so grand, and a peace so abiding, that inviting his enemies to join him would feel like the very right thing to do.
Today, we still have our mean girls and guys, are still excluded from certain tribes, even as adults.
Imagine the relief of having the most powerful being in existence set a feast before you, right where your enemies can see you, right where they can see you and God, together. That’s a powerful image.
At that point, you would have options. Do you eat and run? After all, those onlookers are still your enemies. Do you eat and smirk? I mean, what can they do to you? Clearly, God is on your side.
Or, do you invite them to the feast?
Well, God has set a table before us, and it is in the presence of our enemies.
Now, what do we do with that?
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We're gathering for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast Friday mornings on Zoom** and at Our Breakfast Place. We talk about the Bible while we eat breakfast. Join us at 8:00 for some tasty food, some interesting Bible, and some exhilarating discussion.
Oh! And we laugh. A lot.
Blessings,
Steve
**Contact me for the Zoom link
NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK
Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30
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