Chinatown

Yesterday I went shopping with some friends near Central Market. Two of us decided to eat lunch out and in a moment of inspiration I remembered that we were close to Phnom Penh’s mini Chinatown (a row of about 10 shops). I ordered steamed dumplings, rice and an eggplant & pork dish to share. The food was good but the experience of eating it was great. As I started the mushy eggplant hanging from the end of my chopsticks I wondered what it was about this experience that made me so excited?

Eating in Phnom Penh’s Chinatown brought clusteres of random memories to the surface again. It was almost two years ago in the same restaurant that Nick boldly ordered pigs ears. (Not recommended!) We told him in jest that he wasn’t allowed to eat any of the other dishes until he finished his pigs ears. Unfotunately, Nick took us seriously and I can still see him chewing the fatty appendages with renewed vigour in the desperate hope of finishing the mound… I remember making dumplings in Southern China one stormy afternoon with some foreign friends and their Chinese friends. One of the young Chinese women, who spoke rather broken English, looked out the window and exclaimed, “a temptest is brewing!” We wondered from which ancient English text book she managed to rote-learn this phrase? ….I remember when Deb took me out for my birthday one year to the cheap “chilli eggplant place” in Tsim Sha Tsui. We then blew the budget on cocktails and chocolate brownie dessert at the Hard Rock Café round the corner. Mmmm...

As I sat with a new friend sipping hot tea from a glass, mixing soy sauce with chilli ready to dip the dumplings and listening to the waitress speak Mandarin, I realised why the fod tasted so good. The memories and the company made the meal.

Jesus could have chosen any ritual or symbol for us to remember him by. Yet he chose a meal. When we meet together to eat the bread and drink the cup we are commanded to remember the life and death of Jesus. It is the memory the makes the meal.

At the same time the company is also of crucial importance. Paul rebuked the church at Corinth because when they ate and drank together the rich overindulged while the poor went hungry. He went so far as to say that meetings such as these do more harm than good. Jesus kept company at the table with many different kinds of people. He often broke the rules but his table was inclusive. God’s desire is that all may be able to enjoy together the benefits of sharing in the life of Christ- rich and poor; insiders and outsiders; young and old; men and women; the well respected and the outcast. The company makes the meal.