People eagerly gather around the dinner table. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and the table is where the main event takes place. Memories are shared and new ones are made. The dinner table is central in many cultures, and the USA is no exception.
A dinner table is an inanimate object that welcomes intimacy. Isn't that interesting? When I was a child, Mama Ina Mae was never surprised when Dad added guests to the lunch and dinner tables. He always assumed there would be enough.
There were many times Mama, April and I figured out quick additions to make the meal full for all. Honestly, some of my happiest childhood memories were centered around the big farm table where all were welcome. Come a few times and you were considered family.
In our own home, we've always enjoyed extras at the dinner table. There were more when the kids were small. We miss the days of boys rumbling through the house with friends, but all we have to do is look at our dinner table and the memories come flooding back. Laughter, stories and connecting... it happens around the table.
On the night before Jesus was taken prisoner, he spent his last supper with his disciples around a dinner table. It was a special dinner, because it was the Passover and so much was about to change. His suffering was ahead and he knew it. The meal was important for the fellowship, their relationships... and because it was the first communion supper. Not all understood what was about to happen, but later they would reflect on that evening with sober understanding.
"When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table." -Luke 22:14
At the table, he would speak and they would listen. They would not understand it all, but they would take it all in. Later, they would piece it together with greater understanding.
As we gather for Thanksgiving... even with smaller numbers this year... the dinner table remains a special place. The dinner table brings us together like few other things. Savor the meal... but more than the food... savor the fellowship.
Today, I’m grateful for dinner tables.
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