Gather Round Ye Merry
what has four legs and cannot walk?
Good Morning and welcome back to The Workbox. I hope you are all doing well! If you are new here, welcome! If you have been part of the Work for a while already, welcome back!
Today, I wanted to explore the topic of the dinner table. This thought occurred to me when I was eating dinner with my wife at home. I started to think what is the value of the dinner table? I am not talking about the extrinsic value of a table, such as monetary cost, but I am talking about the intrinsic value of the thing.
The thought of the value of our dinner table started to rise to the surface like a bubble underwater. When the bubble reached the surface of my mind, it popped, with only more questions. Questions like, does one get a large dinner table because they expect to have lots of company? Or does one get a large table because they already have a big family? Do tables grow with a family like the family pet? Or do they come and go like the seasons?
Some people hardly use their table for dinner, choosing rather to use theirs as a sort of large storage device. They turn it into a wonderful catch of all sorts of things they use day in and day out. Hats, coats, and keys replace plates, cups, and forks. Or some others I know clean the table off and prepare for dinner every night, with chores assigned to specific individuals, one for cleaning and one for placing. There is a table for every family, but is there a best kind of table?
I propose that there could be a best kind of table. A table that holds a family and friends for a meal is one of the best. The kind that you can look around at all sides and smile because it is filled to the brim with people you know and care for. At our table, after dinner, we practice a new tradition, reading a chapter of the Bible and then a poem, this marks the official end of dinner. The table is a great place to start something new. Or do something old.
Tables become a part of the family, some have assigned seating, others... not so much. The table has witnessed many late-night conversations, birthday parties, and many many messes. But it will bear them all in good faith. "Steady as she goes." The table reminds himself. "Hold the plates, just so." He says. He could be a proud piece of furniture, a legend to the other pieces of the house. Or maybe he is just the humble table. "Just doing my duty," He states. Whichever he may be, the dinner table is a welcomed part of the family.
Ultimately, the table has a value that cannot be easily discerned. What would life be like without one? One would be tempted to say that it would be strenuous without a table. But we cannot fall into the trap of saying, "If one is good, more will be better." For one can really have too many dinner tables. I think more than one is too many. So we arrive at thinking one table is just enough. Whatever you may think about tables, I hope that this gets you thinking about yours. Is he neglected? Buried under a pile of coats, hats, backpacks and whatever he may be holding? Or is he used just about every night, gratefully carrying the load of a family at dinner.
What are your thoughts? How often do you eat dinner together as a family at home? Comment below and lets have a conversation!
This is so beautiful and so timely. We eat together every night and although not at the main table we are seated next to each other at the breakfast nook. It is the corralling of intentions and thoughts to a single moment in time to share with each other. Some have let jobs, phones, and other distractions slowly creep in and erode this priority as frivolous and from a bygone era. Not so. It stands as long as it's continued to be pushed out and held up on the public stage like you've done here. Beautiful.