By Marianne Wood

“Some organizations become known for certain programs or fundraisers. The Abilene Woman’s Club became known during the 1980s for its Holiday Tables, and the Abilene Preservation League garnered a reputation for Dining at a Good Friend’s Table…” wrote Roy Helen Ackers, also known as “Miz Cheevus” for the Abilene Reporter-News in June of 2016. For those new to Abilene, Texas, Roy Helen, an accomplished businesswoman active on many nonprofit boards, used her considerable intellect and wit for many years to inform and entertain the local citizenry about who’s who and what’s what. For those fortunate to rub shoulders with her, we knew her as simply inspiring. However, for the backdrop and title of this article, I have to credit my one-time employer, the Abilene Preservation League. The League’s special event always brought new connections in a beautiful setting like the Swenson House in north Abilene.

Gatherings with old friends and new ones around a dining table, one of the most covenantal experiences of life, stirs my heart. I think it is because putting one’s feet under another’s table and breaking bread together creates a bond. In legal language, we mutually agree to forbear an act, but religious terms convey a deeper meaning.

So, I could have called this piece “finding the sacred in the ordinary.” I have left homes where I have dined or moved toward the task of tidying my own home filled with peace and awe. And the feeling often lingers in my memory for days, if not weeks.

When Jesus met with his disciples in the Upper Room before the events leading to his death and resurrection, the coming treachery of one of his friends must have hung heavily for him. A gathering such as that and even such as ours implies a great trust that the food is safe and that the bonds are trustworthy. So, hearts necessarily break when rancor erupts at Thanksgiving or other celebratory gatherings. On this side of the history of that “Last Supper,” we can imagine Christ’s sorrow, as we of a certain age and even much younger have felt the slings and arrows of a disappointing assembly.

It is with great joy we collect memories of happy fellowship.

The effort to make a home ready: fill the toilet paper holders, check sinks for toothpaste, remove pet hair from guest seating, find a recipe that will not take all day to prepare and that one feels suitably capable of assembling, have wine or no wine depending on the perceived preferences of those invited, remember to turn the oven on in time to adequately heat the rolls, recall that a vegetable dish sits in the microwave, and remember to ask all guests before the day of the event if they have any food allergies can be daunting! But it is worth it.

With a much-anticipated kitchen renovation complete (it took ten years), my husband and I are more eager to go through the chores mentioned above and more (I left out yard work) to enter into a sacred contract with others. By dining together, we bind ourselves with one or more persons for a couple or three hours of sharing food, personal histories, and, usually, a lot of laughter. And if we have brought along a little courage and curiosity, we leave the table and lounge chairs with more empathy, understanding, and usually many things to Google!

Marianne Wood enjoys writing, painting, and teaching art.