W6 Assignment 1: Vocational Formation: Table Fellowship in Luke’s Gospel In the introductory course materials, you were given the following prompt for this course’s Practice of Presence: “Over the next five weeks, pay attention to the various tables that you sit around for meals. Where are you? Who are you eating with, or, conversely, who are you NOT eating with? What roles do these meals play in your regular life? Are they only opportunities for eating, or do you gain other kinds of nourishment or sustenance from the tables you gather around?”
This week, you should write a 250-500 word reflection on your observations, in response to the following prompts: What do you notice as you look back at the various tables that you ate around in these last five weeks? Who did you eat with? What did you gain from those meals? Where there any particularly memorable instances of table fellowship? As you look at the role of table fellowship in the ministry of Jesus (for instance, Luke 5:27-32; 7:36-50; 15:1-2; 19:1-10, among others), and at Jesus’ explicit instructions about hospitality (for instance, Luke 14:1-24), how do your experiences of table fellowship compare? What similarities or differences do you notice? In light of Luke’s Gospel, are there ways that you would like to change your practices around tables in the future?
