If Tables Could Talk
During my years growing up, one table was always at the center of our family life. My father's parents had a round oak table in their kitchen. When my grandmother died, my parents with their three children moved into the farmhouse with my grandfather and the round oak became ours. By the time I turned 12, I had not just two older brothers but also two younger sisters. That was the year my grandfather died. Our family along with the round oak table moved to the other side of town. As the years went by, many of us sought round oak tables for our homes. Perhaps it was a way of taking a little bit of our childhood home with us. We bought our table while in California. It was there that our family of four shared meals at our antique oak table. A third child joined us when we moved back to Maryland. A fourth child completed our circle of six shortly after moving to Nebraska.
Our last move with all of our children occurred when we left Nebraska for Vermont where we had the challenge of living with and loving four teens. Family meals had
always been important to us and so the round oak table was still the focal point of much of our time together. All four of our children left their high school days behind them before our next move. The move to Virginia was very different. Only our youngest son was coming with us. The old oak table didn't need any leaves. Even then it looked empty with only three people sitting at it. Our youngest is now married with two boys and a little girl on the way.
The oak table now sits in the kitchen. In the dining room we enjoy my in-laws' long maple table that graced their dining room from the time I first met them until we received it after Steve's mom moved into a retirement home. His mother and father are no longer with us but every time we sit at that table we remember the carefully prepared meals that were served with Dad at one end and Mom at the other. Never did we dream when we first ate at that table that the day would come when Steve's parents would be gone and other family members would take their places. Two of our children are married. Their spouses and soon five grandchildren will fill every space.
The unthinkable has happened. Our oak table has been dismantled and it sits in a corner waiting to be stored. The maple table waits for company whether it's friends or family. As our lives change the people who sit at the maple table change. The oak table seemed a little sad as day after day usually the same two people sat alone. With the extra space the scene looked incomplete. How could we rejoice in being together when the space reminded us more of the past than the pleasure of the present? Now a smaller round walnut table sits in the kitchen with chairs for two.
I understand that eating together has become a somewhat rare activity. More meals seem to be eaten in front of the television or quickly grabbed from a fast food restaurant on the the way to some important event. Even when Americans are living with their families, often they are isolated from others even in the frenetic activities of their lives.
The dining table in our case was a marker of time but it was also where we got a better sense of what this thing called family is all about. The round oak table, my in-laws maple table, and now the walnut table all provide the backdrop for God's ongoing display of grace. God provides all things : the rich variety of foods, the people who eat with us, the experiences that add to the conversations over each meal. Every family meal is not idyllic but in spite of the sin of every participant each meal is a foretaste of the feast in heaven when we will be united with our perfect family eating the perfect food while we praise our perfect savior.
Our last move with all of our children occurred when we left Nebraska for Vermont where we had the challenge of living with and loving four teens. Family meals had
always been important to us and so the round oak table was still the focal point of much of our time together. All four of our children left their high school days behind them before our next move. The move to Virginia was very different. Only our youngest son was coming with us. The old oak table didn't need any leaves. Even then it looked empty with only three people sitting at it. Our youngest is now married with two boys and a little girl on the way.
The oak table now sits in the kitchen. In the dining room we enjoy my in-laws' long maple table that graced their dining room from the time I first met them until we received it after Steve's mom moved into a retirement home. His mother and father are no longer with us but every time we sit at that table we remember the carefully prepared meals that were served with Dad at one end and Mom at the other. Never did we dream when we first ate at that table that the day would come when Steve's parents would be gone and other family members would take their places. Two of our children are married. Their spouses and soon five grandchildren will fill every space.
The unthinkable has happened. Our oak table has been dismantled and it sits in a corner waiting to be stored. The maple table waits for company whether it's friends or family. As our lives change the people who sit at the maple table change. The oak table seemed a little sad as day after day usually the same two people sat alone. With the extra space the scene looked incomplete. How could we rejoice in being together when the space reminded us more of the past than the pleasure of the present? Now a smaller round walnut table sits in the kitchen with chairs for two.
I understand that eating together has become a somewhat rare activity. More meals seem to be eaten in front of the television or quickly grabbed from a fast food restaurant on the the way to some important event. Even when Americans are living with their families, often they are isolated from others even in the frenetic activities of their lives.
The dining table in our case was a marker of time but it was also where we got a better sense of what this thing called family is all about. The round oak table, my in-laws maple table, and now the walnut table all provide the backdrop for God's ongoing display of grace. God provides all things : the rich variety of foods, the people who eat with us, the experiences that add to the conversations over each meal. Every family meal is not idyllic but in spite of the sin of every participant each meal is a foretaste of the feast in heaven when we will be united with our perfect family eating the perfect food while we praise our perfect savior.
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