A Cook's Confessions
by Simon Holt
Zadok Perspectives Issue No. 62
Spring/Summer 1998/1999

Sacred supper

Firstly, Jesus' actions underline the sanctity of our meal tables. Whatever else we may conclude about Jesus' eating habits, he certainly chose to reveal some of the most profound mysteries of the kingdom of God through one of the most routine contexts of daily life-the dinner table. In so doing, Jesus sanctified the meal table as a place of deep spiritual significance.

As Christians, we are a people who regularly gather at the table of God to break bread and share wine. Through this simple act, we celebrate the presence of God, acknowledge our dependence upon God, receive grace and reaffirm our relationships as the people of God. Just as we affirm this act as sacrament-a means of grace-we may enthusiastically embrace our dinner tables as potentially sacred places. Here, too, we celebrate the presence of God, for God is indeed present in our eating: present in the food itself as Creator and Provider, present in the rituals of preparation and service, and present in the relationships between those who share the table.

I read a series of quotes recently from young people on what "dinner time is like in your home?" Fourteen-year-old Alesia responded" "I eat dinner with my mum, dad and dog. During dinner we don't talk a lot, because we are too busy watching the soap opera that was recorded that day. It's a pretty laid back time for the family, because we all sit down together in the living room and watch something we all like." Matthew, also 14, said: "I usually eat by myself. My parents are either not home or they are upstairs playing on the computer. So obviously I rarely talk during dinner. But I like it that way." Sasha, 15, added: "We never eat together. I eat at about 5.00 p.m., always something different from what the rest of the family eats, because I am very picky and hate a lot of stuff. While I am eating I talk to my mother. Usually, our conversation turns into a bitter debate, which then fades and we watch The Simpsons. My mother and brother eat at 6.30 and watch Wheel of Fortune."

From these responses, we see the impact television can have upon our household meal times. However, to lay the blame for the demise of the family dinner table entirely at the feet of the television would be simplistic. Life is complicated: longer working hours, busy schedules, family conflicts, the continuing spread of social networks and recreational activities, the convenience of fast-food and microwave ovens; all of these factors and others have impacted our experience of eating. As a regular and extended time of togetherness, dinner time is in poor shape. But if we let the household meal time slip away, what will take its place? What other daily ritual of household life enables us to sit down together for an extended period, face to face, and reaffirm our relationships with each other?

A study of any culture, in any place and time in history, will illustrate that eating together is a fundamental key to human relationship and community. There is not a culture in the world that does not reaffirm its identity, celebrate its history and mark the cycles of the years apart from the communal act of eating. Key to the regular reaffirmation's of covenant between God and the people of Israel were the great annual feasts of the Old Testament. Grand community celebrations, these feasts were commonly centred around sacrifices through which God's presence was invoked and welcomed at the communal table.

To: Eating and exclusivity

Simon Holt Simon Holt is a regular contributor to Zadok Perspectives.