Come to the Table

In the last few months, I have been invited to the table for tea twice.

When people have asked me about the experience, I’ve mumbled something inane such as, “It was nice.”

Nice? For a woman who loves words as much as I do, “nice” just leaves so much to be desired. I use it when I am avoiding giving a direct response, usually to spare feelings. (If I have used the word “nice” in a conversation with you recently, forgive me!)

Nice? It was so much more than nice. But what exactly was it?

I have struggled to find the words. Every word I came up with just wasn’t quite right, ill-fitting, inadequate. Then, just by simply placing a gift on a shelf in my dining room, (see photo below) I was able to begin to understand.

I had been invited not to tea, though tea was served. I had been invited to the Table of Grace. As often happens with grace, I accepted the gift without fully understanding all it brought with it.

Grace defined: noun 1.simple elegance or refinement of movement.

2.in Christian belief the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.

verb 1. do honor or credit to (someone or something) by one’s presence

Both tables were oh so lovely. is the perfect way to describe them. Mismatched china, silverware, serving dishes, linen napkins, lace tablecloths, and what would seem an eclectic collection of decorative items transformed a cold slab of wood into a warm place of respite. Hospitality not at its fanciest but certainly, at its finest. Table of Grace.

Every guest at the table was a guest of , evidenced not only by the place settings and food served, but in the great care taken to serve each person. You were seen. Your presence was desired. You were welcome.Table of Grace.

All those at the table were shown and showed We were strangers. This was not my place and these were not my people. They don’t know me or my story, or the things I have done. Yet, we shared a meal, conversation, laughter, spoke of scripture, encouraged one another, prayed together. Table of Grace.

I have been reading about, studying about, true hospitality for years. Some would even say I have the “gift of hospitality”. I would disagree. I want the gift. I want my table to be a Tableof Grace.

True hospitality not only refreshes us physically by giving us a place to rest and feeding our bodies, but true hospitality restores and refreshes our souls. Oh, my soul was so hungry for the grace that it found at those tables!

May my table and may your table be Tables of Grace. May we employ simple elegance, sharing our best with others not for show, but to honor our guests. May every person at our tables feel welcomed, wanted, seen and heard. May we always show unmerited favor to all but especially to the stranger, to those usually marginalized and ignored. May they find a place of honor at our tables. May we seek to not just refresh bodies but to soothe souls!

Now, who would like to come to the table for tea?