Pete's Blog

When you're sitting by yourself in a public place, say a cafeteria or at a conference, and someone you like whose company you enjoy sees you but does not sit next to you, instead of feeling rejected, consider it a compliment. He considers sitting next to you a place of honour.

"[D]o not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this person,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place." (Lk. 14:8-10)

Of course, if you consider it in this manner, your next course of action must be to go to that person and insist he sit with you, in the place of honour.

"[W]hen your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.'" (Lk. 14:10)

Update: I struck the word "like" at the beginning of the entry in favour of a more explicit mean. Since "like" in English can carry the meaning of romantic interest (though it hadn't occurred to me when I first wrote the post), I decided, when I did realize how it sounded, to change it.