Grand Central Table

I’m sitting at the table in our diminutive, but darling dining room as I write. The old solid, rectangular, oregon wood table is at the centre of most of our family’s living and loving. Much more than eating happens here. Conversations are started, clean laundry is sorted, fresh flower posies are arranged, gifts are wrapped, boardgames are played, paper planes are folded, model bridges are built, tax expenses are recorded, dissertations are researched, confidences are shared, disagreements are debated, family and friends are gathered.

It is around this table that achievements are celebrated, affirmations are extended, and rites of passage are recognised, daily grace is given, communion is taken, and our bodies, minds, and spirits are nurtured and nourished. Nourished. Nourished.

We don’t often entertain lavishly in this sacred special to us space. But we lavishly live and love in it every day. It’s also a playroom, a writing spot, and a library. Our ever growing library of Grace books is stacked high on top of one of the bookcases, together with a miscellany of dictionaries, books about travel and food, marriage and raising children, three matryoshka dolls silently stand vigil, a thin plume of smoke escapes the incense holder, white candles flicker in the silver candlestick, the odd stray toy is left behind after a playdate, and an earring or a shoe awaits repair (I love that Claude is both cerebral and practical.) The dining room is our grand central station. The simple ordinary living that takes place here – each and every day – sparks reverence and pleads for preservation – TV dinners? No way! 

The most sacred moments, the ones in which I feel God’s presence the most, usually involve the sharing of a meal (and our hearts) around a table (tables invite intimacy) with family and friends and friends who become family who are hungry – not just for food, but for life and love to the fullest. To break ‘bread and wine’ together around a table is to embrace intimacy with both Jesus and those with you! After all, Jesus is the bread of life.

As for me and my house – while seated around the table, may we remain tangibly linked in the timeless ritual of hospitality and home. Home. Home.

Dear God

Thank you that you are a lover of family, of feasting and festivity. Thank you Jesus that you set the example of dining with ordinary everyday people. As you have promised (that you will never leave us nor forsake us), thank you that you are always present at our Grand Central table, present to the highs and the lows of our ordinary everyday lives, whooping it up with us when there is celebration and holding our hearts in your hands when sadness and sorrow overwhelm us. Thank you that at your last supper you broke bread and shared the wine as a symbol of your sacrifice for us and that, when we do the same in remembrance of you, we are reminded that you came to bring us life and life more abundantly. Yes, Lord yes!

Amen

What do mealtimes look like in your home?

Where is “Grand Central” in your home? What are the special moments you share there?

What are your thoughts about Jesus being ever-present at the ‘table’ of your ordinary everyday life?