Food is needed to nourish our bodies,
but the table is needed to nourish our souls.
British journalist, restaurant critic and author AA Gill once said that the most important discovery known to mankind was the invention of the dining table, and that the most important thing we all do as a species is sit around that table with others and eat.
Ancient Egyptians were the earliest recorded originators of eating around the table, but the Italians chose to make it an art! Italians are consummate life enthusiasts, and their ritual of eating together around a table celebrates one of humanities simplest pleasures; being together.
In Italy, coming to the table is not about eating, it’s about sharing company with others. In Italy, the table symbolizes the philosophy of appreciating who and what is directly in front of you. Food is spoken about as a pleasure. To share plates is an expression of love, and to sit around a table with loved ones is a sacred act of connection.
In the banquet of life, the table is a place of transformation. St Augustine’s conversion to Christianity revolved around the guilt over stolen fruit. C. S. Lewis’s conversion from atheism to faith was hammered out over pints of ale and pork pies in the pubs of Oxford. Even Jesus spent his last night on earth sitting around a table with his nearest and dearest friends breaking bread and drinking wine. Hunger and thirst are our excuse to meet at the table.
Join us this Sunday as we begin our series, The Feast. A series designed to recognize the transformational space created by the simple act of sharing a meal. May we see every meal, regardless of formality, as a chapter in the story of soul nourishment.