“Love Everyone”. These were last words of a very dear family friend that recently passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Certainly he meant to tell the family gathered around that he loved them. But I took these words as a benediction of sorts, and an apropos title for this inaugural post.
My love language is food. Bring me all the food. Gary Chapman, I’m not sure how you omitted this from the Five Love Languages. Food is so universal. Everyone needs to eat. It transcends race, gender, age, marital status…all the things. A table set with a delicious meal invites people in, nourishing body and soul. It invites robust conversation, story telling and laughter.
Our table is scratched, dented, and bears a 2 inch burn mark from an un-named child’s experiment with tea lights. A large world map hangs on the wall behind it, with pictures of sponsored kids and missionaries dotting Ecuador, China, Japan, Ethiopia, Mauritania. We are reminded that these too are all made in the image of God, and worthy of love.
Sometimes though, it’s harder to love those right here, right in front of me. And that’s where our trusty table comes in. It has provided space and nourishment to schoolmates from the Philippines, cancer survivors, worn out single parents, Buddhists, red headed naturalists and gun toting uncles.
This is so fun! We get to peek inside another world and learn from others with stories to tell. Once you know someone’s story, it’s so much easier to love them.
The table has been such a natural part of teaching our kids about community, compassion, and loving their neighbor. It doesn’t feel forced, it’s simply extending an invitation to lunch.
Your table doesn’t have to look like this:
It can look like this:
:
Or this:
Or this:
Think about what you are already doing. Taco Tuesdays, mid-day Starbucks runs at work, lunch after church. Who is at the margins in your community that you can invite? The family that just moved to town? That Japanese foreign exchange student? The elderly neighbor whose spouse has just passed away?
What does this look like in your family?