“The Lord washes our feet so we can come back to the table. The table from which he wishes no one to be excluded. The table which is spread for all and to which all of us are invited.”
– Pope Francis
February 1st marked twenty years of full-time work for me at Catholic Leadership Institute. As Millennials go, I might as well be a unicorn for staying in one place for so long. As I completed my twentieth mid-year performance self-review, I thought it might be fun to page through the prior nineteen reviews to see where younger Dan thought he could grow. I cringed more than a few times as I read how impressed I was with myself in my twenties. In more than one review, I mentioned being ready or wanting “a seat at the table.” As I read my own words and remembered writing them, I looked at the multiple piles on my desk of things awaiting my review or decision and briefly wondered if, on this review, I could write my children’s favorite request, “May I be excused from the table?”
The longer I lead, the less certain I am that I am a decent leader. However, what I am absolutely sure of is that your seat at the table is only as good as those you get to share the table with, and whatever you think you might bring to the table, it pales in comparison to what can be shared with you - if you’re open to it. Whether it be around conference tables or Zoom squares at work, the dining room tables of our families, or especially around the table of the Lord in worship: am I more concerned with what I want to do or accomplish or am I open to what I might learn or how I might grow from those who sit with me? Am I more concerned with where I sit or what’s happening at the table?
As I broke bread with our Founder, Tim Flanagan, to mark the occasion, we reminisced about all the wonderful people we’ve had the privilege to pull up a chair next to over the last two decades and how we’re both better husbands, fathers, disciples, and leaders because we got to share the table with them. As we look around whatever tables we get to sit at this week, let’s give thanks for all the ways God blesses us by those He puts around us.
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