I like tables. I like to do my paper work on a table, spreading out an array of paper, pens, markers, and a cup of coffee. I like kitchen tables with their feeling of at-home-ness. One of my favorite times of the day is to sit down at the dining room table with four other Sisters of Notre Dame in my small community in Whitehouse, Ohio. The Sister whose turn it is to make dinner sets down the bowls, as the steam rises, and our eyes take in the spread before their cast down in meal prayer. Convent meals are usually rather ordinary, and our talk encompasses the day’s activities, world events, or the cute things little ones say at school. Much of my ordinary day occurs at tables—wiping them clean, writing, eating, talking, or playing a card game. I believe with Macrina Wiederkehr in “the incredible gift of the ordinary! Glory comes streaming from the table of daily life!”
Life is the table at which we sit. What do you do when you’re sitting there? Let incredible things happen.
One Response
Dear Sr. Valerie,
I really liked your reflection on tables. When I was growing up, our dining room table was the “hub” of our home. It is fitting that when we celebrate Mass we gather around another table, the altar, and receive the nourishment of the Eucharist with one another. Thank you for your words! Sr. Melannie