POT LUCKS, PANCAKE BREAKFASTS & PICNICS

When I think about the times n my life that I experienced a true sense of communion with others my mind brings up memories of the pot luck dinners, the pancake breakfasts, and the picnics we used to have at churches that I went to.  It seems there is something sacred and sacramental about eating together.  Perhaps it’s the amount of time spent in preparing the special dish, then presenting it as a gift to share with others, and then actually sitting down with one another and enjoying the fellowship of food, friends, and the stories we share as we eat.  Where did those simple times go?

Over time things changed.  The food was no longer lovingly prepared by known hands, but it was catered; a program was prepared to watch while we ate, rather than leaving the time open for sharing our stories; the pancake breakfast left due budget issues and lack of interest of those who didn’t see the fun n getting up at 5:00 am and meeting together to prepare it; and the weekly after service picnics became once a year calendar events.  These endings resulted in churches declining in numbers, vacant church buildings being put on the real estate market, and sadder still, people with vacant and hungry souls suffering from a lack of true communion with others.

True communion and meaningful companionship requires time spent in one another’s presence and it seems that the demands of living in today’s world doesn’t allow for that time anymore.  We suffer from the loss of true communion, true communication, and true community, both as individuals and as a world.

In response to that loss we have created virtual communities, and temporary experiences of community, hopefully provided a sort of fix to get us through this loss.  Facebook, retreat centers, schools, even workplaces advertise and try to foster a sense of community while you study and work together for a time; but it’s only temporary.  Eventually you have to go home with only the memories and the longing for that rich sense of communion.

I am sure there are many social scientists and psychologists that have theories about the reasons for this. But whatever the reasons are, I miss those days when we weren’t so busy doing whatever it is we are busy at, that keeps us truly apart from one another.  It seems like our technology has enabled us to be farther apart from one another rather than closer together.  It gives us the ability to “check in” and “be in touch” with one another, replacing that for our soul’s necessity to commune and to be in the presence with one another.  It gives us the ability to participate in the sufferings of people thousands of miles away from us, and yet not know or care what our next door neighbors are dealing with.  We vicariously participate in a world community but our neighborhoods are strange lands to us.

The myth of Cicely Alaska in the TV show Northern Exposure is what I yearn for.  The fact that people created that place, even just for our entertainment, tells me that there are others out there somewhere of like mind and soul.  Somehow that gives me comfort and let’s me know that I am not alone in my longing for those days of pot lucks, pancake breakfasts, and picnics with people I commune with, communicate with, and live in community with.