“I think of our family table as a training ground for all of life, a place where adults and children alike can learn to put aside their differences in favor of laughter and fellowship; a place where we can each be heard and respected; a place where each of us can offer love and nourishment and receive it in turn. When we hold hands around our table, we create a sacred space there. When we share food and life and good talk, we reweave our connections with each other.”
Katrina Kenison, Mitten Strings for God – Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry Does this sound like mealtime at your house? I love the thought, but between trying to convince three munchkins to stay in their seats, to fights over eating broccoli, pleadings to use their inside voices, and six trips to the kitchen for mom, the bustle of our table often feels more like a zoo than a sacred space.
And yet, every now and then we’ll share a meal in which everyone stays in their seats and eats without complaint, in which giggles replace arguing, and even those rare moments of the older two asking questions and sharing the beginnings of real conversation with one another. It is these times that remind me that the work of training in these early years will not only pay off later, but is an irreplaceable time in itself. The chaos of learning prayers, of training in manners and teaching appreciation for wholesome meals may not be the quiet, peaceful picture that my mind conjures up when hearing the term “sacred space,” but these are matchless moments that are holy in themselves.
So, for now I’ll light a candle to fulfill the part of my heart that longs for serenity and embrace the sacred chaos of mealtime in these early years of motherhood.
*Written for our November MOPS newsletter. Katrina Kenison's book, Mitten Strings for God, which I quoted at the beginning is a great little book of vignettes written by a mother who chooses to live simply. It has been an encouragement for me and could be a nice Christmas gift for mothers of young children. :)
