Sept. 8: Who would I like to meet?

Blog challenge for today: Who would I like to meet, from the present or the past?

This one was a tough one to narrow down, so I didn't! I decided to break the rules and expand it--one person? Can't possibly keep it to one. I've decided it's all about the dinner party, and the great conversation about life, the universe and everything. So for the purposes of this blog challenge, I'm going to have a small dinner party right here, around our dining room table. And one of my guests is going to cook for us (doh!).

Each of these people represents an area of my life that is very important to me: words, spirituality, food and what it means to be a citizen of this world.

Around the table:

Mary Oliver, poet

"To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go."

Tom Colicchio, chef

"Recipes tell you nothing. Learning techniques is the key."

Tim Keller, theologian

“If a person has grasped the meaning of God's grace in his heart, he will do justice. If he doesn't live justly, then he may say with his lips that he is grateful for God's grace, but in his heart he is far from him. If he doesn't care about the poor, it reveals that at best he doesn't understand the grace he has experienced, and at worst he has not really encountered the saving mercy of God.
Grace should make you just.”

Pema Chodron, writer and teacher

“The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes.”

Emma Thompson, actor 

"It's unfortunate and I really wish I wouldn't have to say this, but I really like human beings who have suffered. They're kinder."

Now that I've put this delightful (to me) dinner party together--with Mr. Colicchio doing the cooking, of course--I'm really bummed that it'll never happen. Ah, well. That's what blogging and dreaming are all about.

If you could put together a dinner party of people you'd love to meet, who would be at the table?

Jen and I (and now my mom and Lisa too!) are blog challenging throughout September. You can catch her blog over at Stuff Jen Says. If you want to write along with us, give me a shout and I'll send you the blog prompts.