This is a guest post by Nancy Jo Sullivan.
After my third child was born, I rarely cooked a homemade meal. While caring for a baby and two toddlers, my days revolved around feedings, trips to the park, and massive amounts of laundry. I often ate what the kids ate: bologna cut into squares, Goldfish crackers, and apple slices.
One afternoon, while my kids were napping, I heard a knock at my front door. It was Marion, my old college roommate. Wearing a baseball cap and an oversized sweatshirt, she carried a kettle of homemade soup. “Are you hungry for lunch?” she asked.
Earlier that morning, Marion’s husband had taken her kids to the zoo. Now she had the whole afternoon free. I was so happy I could barely contain myself. “C’mon in,” I told her.
For the next hour, we sat at my kitchen table, eating, laughing, and reminiscing about our past. As my kids slept peacefully, I savored each mouthful of soup. “This tastes so good,” I said. I closed my eyes to taste the seasoned broth, the barley, and the warm veggies. “Thank you for coming,” I kept saying.
Over two decades later, I know why I remember that afternoon. Yes, Marion had lovingly prepared that soup just for me. But she had also given me something more precious, the gift of her friendship.
Jesus does the same thing for us. Each day, he joins us at the kitchen table of our heart. With great joy, he shares the food of his friendship. As we savor his presence, we are invited to take a break from our busy lives. While resting in him, we can close our eyes and say, “Thank you for coming!”
Nancy Jo Sullivan is the author of Small Mercies: Glimpses of God in Everyday Life. She is a frequent speaker at both the local and national levels. Sullivan lives in St. Paul, Minnesota and blogs at NancyJoSullivan.com.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
This is so beautiful. Sharing meals with friends and family is so sacred. Jesus enjoyed sharing meals with others as well but Jesus included the vulnerable and the abandoned of society. Some of my most memorable meals have been shared with those who have come into my life in unusual ways and are vulnerable and wounded but they are incredible gifts from God. There are different ways of tasting and this verse from Psalm 34:8 came to mind: “Taste and see that the Lord is good”.
Ditto to what Lynda so eloquently said. We all need to remember that we are called to the Lord’s banquet. Let’s not be to busy to turn down this awesome opportunity to dine with God.
Happy Wednesday…
εὐχαριστίᾳ or as we know it, Eucharistia – thanksgiving. When we come together to taste and see, we know the Lord. This is the magnificent dynamism of eucharist, sacramentally with a Big S at the Lord’s Table, sacramentally with a small s, as we meet Christ in one another at our tables.
Amen!
This is such a wonderful post! Food for the body, a serving of friendship, with the presence of God–nourishment for our heart and our soul. Wonderful Blessings indeed!
Wonderful and so relatable!
Oh. To have this here on a day when I’ve had nothing to eat for over 24 hrs. !!! Anything would taste good about now!! But, I think that food or the sharing of food has always had a mystical sense to it. The communal meal was practiced long before formal Eucharistic Practices. To this day we’ve carried this over with our pot-lucks, holiday celebrations and family dinners. Family dinners, if considered in this way take on special significance. Ours are small, but whenever we’re home we sit at table together for at least one meal; and joint preparation can be so much fun! Not coming from a stable family environment, all of this is so new to me, so maybe I see more value in it than those whose practice has been passed on by generations; but, it’s one of those simple things in life that can be so great!
Even at the shelter, serving, I try to sit with other guests and at least share some time with them. My first family.
Favorite foods and tastes for me are those hard to come by. Fruits and vegetables picked and eaten directly from the garden taste so much better. My favorite, a warm peach dripping sweet juices. Makes a mess, but tastes so good! One of my friend’s parents operate a large farm and orchard. Once a year for the past two years, her dad has gifted us with permission to pick all we can in 24hrs. and cart it off to shelters and food banks. It is such a rare treat for all who mostly eat from nonperishable stocks. Of course, I always keep a bag full for myself
We’ve just recently moved back into our first home in a very rural area with aspirations of turning it into a small family farm
Lots of work ahead tho’. To remember those who grow and harvest our food and include them in our prayers, to me is of such importance!! Of course, the Eucharist is the communal meal raised to the highest level, but, we shouldn’t forget that any meal shared can be communion: God is present in our food. Through Him are all things made. This is a call to environmental stewardship if ever I heard one. 
Oh. I’m sooooooooooooooo hungry!!!!
Emma, the way you described the fresh fruits and vegetables, especially the “warm peach dripping sweet juices” make it sound so festive and fun! And isn’t this what Jesus’ table fellowship all about? Food and being present to one another – you’ll make a great host for this kind of fellowship! Thanks for sharing…
Emma, thank you for this beautiful addition to the post.
Oh yes – Emma… mmmmmmmmm.
Marvelous reflection. I can taste the soup and savor the friendship. Thanks, Nancy Jo.
For goodness sakes, Emma–eat something!!! That’s the mother in me speaking. Consider yourself mothered.
I have
It was a medical thing. I ‘ve made up for it now tho ‘ 
Maybe too much so!
I appreciate the reminder to be grateful for my sense of taste, for the pleasure in good food, good drink, prepared and shared with loving friends and family.
Cause most days, it seems at least as much of a curse as a blessing. It’s not, I know, but I need the reminder. The “curse” is overinduging, under exercising, and spending too many hours at a computer every day.
Thank you for the reminder that, although it often seems like nothing more than an inescapable temptation, the gift of being able to enjoy food every day is just one more way that God shows His love.
Nancy Jo: a beautiful Mary and Elizabeth story!
Thank you Nancy Jo.
I so like the phrase –kitchen table of our heart.
It reminded me of Dorothy Day-how we break bread together.
When I broke my arm my sister came down to take care of me for a few days. She cleaned, organised and cooked, to help make my life easier for the next six weeks I would be in plaster. She cooked several meals in large baking dishes- lasagne, shepherd’s pie, and chicken korma- then cut them into meal sized pieces, and froze them all in plastic containers of various kinds. It was a miracle how she stacked all these meals in my smallish freezer area. By the time I came out of plaster, and had regained enough strength to safely cook for myself, I had grown heartily tired of eating lasagne, shepherd’s pie and chicken korma! But I will never ever forget the way my sister looked after me, and will be forever deeply grateful.
I’m having some surgery this afternoon, and am sitting here at the computer reading this. Am I anxious about surgery? A little (I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.) But the overwhelming thought right now is–the taste of a cup of coffee. Nothing fancy, mind you, just plain old strong joe, the way God intended it to be enjoyed, imho!
It is amazing how a frightened human being whose perspective has narrowed to the point where it is no longer logical thought can be engaged with just the simple act of offering a cup of coffee. An acquaintance of mine who worked in hostage negotiation with the state police told me once that if he could get the gunman to accept a plain old cup of coffee, or indeed any other food, he was almost certain that the situation could be peacefully defused.
There is something about the sharing of food that speaks deeply to us as human beings, and I think that is one thing that Our Lord had in mind when He instituted the Eucharist.
Carol, prayers for your surgery today and a quick recovery. God bless you for sharing your insights here.