Mark 2:16
 
"When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, 'Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?'"

Reflection by Lillian Daniel

My mother was a magnificent entertainer, but it was not the cooking. The gravy was likely to have burned on the stove, the chicken frighteningly undercooked, or well-crisped and an hour late. But there were always flowers on the table and candles to make the guests feel special. My mother's motto was "Well, it may not be good but it'll certainly be fancy."

One night, she came out of the kitchen more than an hour late, dressed to the nines in a sparkly outfit, red high heels clicking across the floor, holding a magnificent roasted duck. It was hard to find the duck on the plate, buried in a parsley explosion of culinary enthusiasm, a product of a long day's work, cheerfully given.

But then, somehow, the combination of all the greenery, the grease of the duck, and a fold in the carpet just underneath her high-heeled shoes came together in the perfect storm. And as she tripped, the duck she had spent the whole day preparing went flying across the room, landed where once it had had its tail feathers, and skidded across the floor only to stop on the muddy doormat in the front hall, a brown trail of grease, gravy, and parsley garnish in its sad wake.

My mother had a moment when tears welled up, and there was a collective gasp among the guests. But then it was as if a new spirit came upon her, and she pulled her little shoulders back, marched over to the duck on the doormat, stooped down, and picked it up as she announced to the group, "Let me just throw this duck away in the kitchen, and I'll be back in just a minute with the other duck."

And a few minutes later she made another grand entrance, this time avoiding the crease in the carpet. The duck was even more heavily disguised in garnish, to cover the bruises, for of course, as we all knew, there was no other duck. This was it.

But we sinners all ate well at the table that night, feasting less on the damaged duck than on the grace that was served to both an embarrassed hostess and to her hungry guests.

Prayer

Thank you for all the mothers who have taught their children that there is always another duck. Amen.

About the Author Lillian Daniel is the senior minister of the First Congregational Church, UCC, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She is the author, with Martin Copenhaver, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.