A man forgets how good it is to slide his boots under a real table for a hot meal.”
–Donald L. Robertson (Logan’s Word)
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.”
–Psalm 23:5 (NKJV)
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“It’s where Daddy cleaned his gun, where my homework was done, where the coffee was drink and news was read… It all happened at the kitchen table…”
–Jimmy Yeary
What is it that happens around your kitchen table? This is a song that I came across recently and speaks of all the things that used to take place around the kitchen table. Most places I’ve lived we didn’t have room for a kitchen table, but the dining room table sufficed. As a kid I seldom ate breakfast with the family because they were all up and at work before I went to school, but I would sit at the table to eat my breakfast. However, most evenings (until I started playing baseball in junior high) we all sat down at the table for supper.
My earliest memories of the table was in a small dining room that contained a buffet and Grandma’s bed which was along the wall with a window. The furnace in the room heated the whole house and Grandma usually kept a coffee can on it filled with water. When a cousin, Sonny, lived with us there could be found a tray of chicken hearts, livers, and gizzards warming there. Sonny was a short-order cook.
I can remember sitting at the table listening to the adults talk and when family came from a far distance they would talk late into the night. Friends who came over would sit at the table, drink coffee and eat some kind of sweets that Grandma made. Theology, politics, school, and baseball were discussed there along with many practical things. That’s where Grandma would roll out her cookie dough. Yes, thinking about that table brings a smile.
I wrote all of that background to show how a subtle change has taken place in our society. Notice that I didn’t mention praying before meals. That was a given, prayer was to be given thanking the Lord for the food and for His blessing. It is a practice that to a degree is no longer practiced and one reason is because we are no longer sitting at the table. I am doing a brief study of Leviticus, and food was to be considered a blessing from the Lord. Meat was not always on the menu, but when it was there was a certain ritual. The man who slaughters the animal must take it before the Lord as an offering, then he could take the meat home to eat. (Leviticus 17) This act dignified ordinary meals, making them sacred. Eating around the table should be part of a spiritual experience; and do not forget Paul’s words, “Whatever you do in word or deep, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Colossians 3:17, NASB)
The table, the place where we eat, but it should be more. It should be a time of family gathering and discussion. It should be a place where we are thankful for God’s blessings upon our lives. I think it is to our detriment that we no longer bond around the table. Everything does not have to be a religious discussion or ritual, but everything should be done unto the Lord. Annie and I always eat at the table. When family comes over we eat at the table. The table is a symbol of hospitality which should be part of our lifestyle. It is around the table that we drink coffee and “break bread”, laugh, and once in a while shed tears. David W. Rogers puts it this way, “One may think of this as a kitchen table spirituality–a spiritual life and way of living that mirrors the kitchen table in life. A spirituality that is not afraid of getting soiled while preparing nutrition for others. A place where life’s ups and downs are straightened out, where lives come together and blessing happens. A spirituality that is real, tangible, and Biblical.”
Then my mind goes to that grand table in heaven. A table where we will sit with Jesus, and enjoy the feast of the Marriage Supper. What a time that will be. It will be a sacred time, and also a time of joy and thanksgiving.
“When I was but a boy in days of childhood,
I used to play tll evening shadows come
Then winding down an old familiar pathway
I heard my mother call at set of sun.
Come home, come home it’s supper time,
The shadows lengthen fast,
Come home, come home it’s supper time;
We’re going home at last.”
–Ira F. Stanphill
——————————–
“It’s where Daddy cleaned his gun, where my homework was done, where the coffee was drink and news was read… It all happened at the kitchen table…”
–Jimmy Yeary
What is it that happens around your kitchen table? This is a song that I came across recently and speaks of all the things that used to take place around the kitchen table. Most places I’ve lived we didn’t have room for a kitchen table, but the dining room table sufficed. As a kid I seldom ate breakfast with the family because they were all up and at work before I went to school, but I would sit at the table to eat my breakfast. However, most evenings (until I started playing baseball in junior high) we all sat down at the table for supper.
My earliest memories of the table was in a small dining room that contained a buffet and Grandma’s bed which was along the wall with a window. The furnace in the room heated the whole house and Grandma usually kept a coffee can on it filled with water. When a cousin, Sonny, lived with us there could be found a tray of chicken hearts, livers, and gizzards warming there. Sonny was a short-order cook.
I can remember sitting at the table listening to the adults talk and when family came from a far distance they would talk late into the night. Friends who came over would sit at the table, drink coffee and eat some kind of sweets that Grandma made. Theology, politics, school, and baseball were discussed there along with many practical things. That’s where Grandma would roll out her cookie dough. Yes, thinking about that table brings a smile.
I wrote all of that background to show how a subtle change has taken place in our society. Notice that I didn’t mention praying before meals. That was a given, prayer was to be given thanking the Lord for the food and for His blessing. It is a practice that to a degree is no longer practiced and one reason is because we are no longer sitting at the table. I am doing a brief study of Leviticus, and food was to be considered a blessing from the Lord. Meat was not always on the menu, but when it was there was a certain ritual. The man who slaughters the animal must take it before the Lord as an offering, then he could take the meat home to eat. (Leviticus 17) This act dignified ordinary meals, making them sacred. Eating around the table should be part of a spiritual experience; and do not forget Paul’s words, “Whatever you do in word or deep, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Colossians 3:17, NASB)
The table, the place where we eat, but it should be more. It should be a time of family gathering and discussion. It should be a place where we are thankful for God’s blessings upon our lives. I think it is to our detriment that we no longer bond around the table. Everything does not have to be a religious discussion or ritual, but everything should be done unto the Lord. Annie and I always eat at the table. When family comes over we eat at the table. The table is a symbol of hospitality which should be part of our lifestyle. It is around the table that we drink coffee and “break bread”, laugh, and once in a while shed tears. David W. Rogers puts it this way, “One may think of this as a kitchen table spirituality–a spiritual life and way of living that mirrors the kitchen table in life. A spirituality that is not afraid of getting soiled while preparing nutrition for others. A place where life’s ups and downs are straightened out, where lives come together and blessing happens. A spirituality that is real, tangible, and Biblical.”
Then my mind goes to that grand table in heaven. A table where we will sit with Jesus, and enjoy the feast of the Marriage Supper. What a time that will be. It will be a sacred time, and also a time of joy and thanksgiving.
“When I was but a boy in days of childhood,
I used to play tll evening shadows come
Then winding down an old familiar pathway
I heard my mother call at set of sun.
Come home, come home it’s supper time,
The shadows lengthen fast,
Come home, come home it’s supper time;
We’re going home at last.”
–Ira F. Stanphill