Feasting in the House of God

I flew to Cambridge, UK again with Shann. We spent time with a lovely Christian artist who wrote a song called, “We Will Feast in House of Zion.” Her name is Sandra, and she has a tender quietness and down-to-earth sincerity though she is well-known in Christian circles.

She writes:

We will feast in the house of Zion We will sing with our hearts restored He has done great things, we will say together We will feast and weep no more

We will not be burned by the fire He is the Lord, our God We are not consumed by the flood Upheld, protected, gathered up

I love the image of the table. Dad and Mom made it the centerpiece of the home, and it is for my family as well. Our hearts are restored at the table as we pray and celebrate the goodness of our life together. Dad believed in bringing gratitude to the table—hope, wonder, delight in life.

We did talk about painful situations at the table, but it was a space where negative, comparison, critical words were silenced. It was not a space to make fun, put down, judge others.

When I sing Sandra’s song, I imagine my dad. I picture him in the house of Zion feasting and laughing, singing and upheld. I love her first verse which comes from some of my favorite verses. It’s a passage Dad and I memorized. “When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.” Dad learned how to walk through the fire of cancer, how to navigate the floods of illness and depression without being consumed by the flood.

As I head to meet coaches from all around the USA flying in to coach in Alaska, my prayer for them is to make camp a safe and sacred place—a vision of the house of Zion. I picture a table where coaches and campers can feast together. Upheld, protected, gathered up.

“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” – Isaiah 43:1-3