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Showing posts from 2019

The God of washing up

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It is with great sadness that I have to announce that, in all likelihood, by the end of the financial year, Faith House will have a dishwasher. Over the years, first Cana and more recently Rainbow have succumbed. It seems inevitable that Faith House is only a few months away. Over the years, I’ve fought a losing battle against dishwashers - their clean silver lines, polishes surfaces and promises of beautifully clean crockery have beguiles and seduced all corners of the community. Jean Vanier often writes that the dinner table is at the centre of the community – the place where all are equal, where all have a place and where time can be ‘wasted’ in the company and service of others. Jean Vanier never washed up in Rainbow. My happiest memories and most complete experiences of community life in Rainbow are focused not around the dining table, but around the washing-up bowl. As a washer-upper often described as vigorous and enthusiastic if perhaps lacking some of the finer