Journeys: The Banquet

What is my blog about? It’s about how I live…how I love…how I navigate the ebbs and flows of this meandering stream we all share; How I embrace the vicissitudes of life. I call it Journeys!

You and I are here together. Let’s get to know one another and share this time together. In truth, we are all we have! My brother once gave me the best description for our life together:

You, and each of us, is a royal guest of honor at a most grand banquet.

We are adorned in a beautiful wardrobe. We wear a shiny gold crown and beautiful jewelry. We arrive, seated on the finest leather upholstery in a royal coach adorned by precious gems, drawn by the finest steeds in the kingdom. We are helped out of the coach by a handful of royal guards We walk on a crystal walkway covered by a red carpet with white rose petals strewn in our path by angels. We knock on the palace door and are greeted by two Royal Guards who announces our arrival with a dozen players blowing on shiny trumpets. We enter and meet our hosts, who collect our coats and hats and then are offered the finest champagne and delicious finger food in anticipation of the main feast. We mingle with our fellow royal guests. The doors to the banquet hall finally open and we are escorted and seated at our chair with our name written on a fine linen card in beautiful script engraved with gold leaf resting on a fine China plate and a crystal glass filled with the best wine.

We are, at first, bewildered by the opulence. You enjoy the camaraderie of your fellow royal guests and are so happy they were invited. You begin to expect it.

We are here to enjoy the banquet; the food, the music, the entertainment, all of it…is here for us to enjoy and share with one another. No one is above or below another. No one is more honored or less honored. We share in our significance and our value to the host is equal. We seem to have different talents or aptitudes. We seem to possess different capacities for learning or understanding. We are attracted to unique and varied interests that we may share with a few others. Like snowflakes, we have a special, almost unique appearance. We all share physical drives and motivations such as hunger, comfort, security and health. We almost all share emotional drives such as affection, companionship and self-actualization.

But we then notice that some of our fellow royal guests are not behaving like we are; some are mad at the host and call out with demands for attention. Others don’t like where they are seated and want a position closer to the King and Queen. Some are cold. Some are hot. Some complain about the service they get. Still others don’t like the food or wine and yell invectives at the servers. Some complain about the music they hear and want their favorite song played. Some yell at you and seem envious of your seat or your fare although it is the same as theirs. In a while you see some throwing their meal at their neighbor. They throw their fine China or crystal on the floor and break it. You sit quietly hoping the guards will correct the behavior. They don’t. You form alliances with those close to you who seem to have antagonism toward others who have formed their own alliances. You feel the need to agree with them. The banquet is now a collection of groups of royal guests isolated and at odds with others.

Most of the royal guests have forgotten that they were invited to the banquet and are subjects to King and Queen. They make unanswered demands of their hosts. Each group appeals for peace and calm by making demands of other groups and by throwing their silverware at their fellow royal guests in different groups.

All this time, the King and Queen sit quietly at the head table and observe…..