Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Dearest God,

It was just a simple, rectangular, wooden kitchen table in the farmhouse at my grandmother's home.  We could look out the kitchen windows and door and view the birdhouses made my grandfather.  Just to the side we could see the old pear tree and a huge truck patch full of vegetables, flowers, and fruits.  My grandmother used that table for everything, rolling out homemade pie crusts, canning food from the garden, and preparing meals.  But that table was so much more than a simple kitchen table.

The word of life and light and hope was read at that table.  Prayers were spoken.  Love was shared.  When we sat at that table we were brought into your presence and there we tarried for a while.  I learned I was loved at that table.  I learned you were the hope of the world.  I learned faith and all its benefits at that table.  I learned Jesus loved me at Grandma's table.

Although it has been thirty years since I last sat at that table before my grandmother's death, I still remember your living presence and your love there.  My heart is warmed when I think of the table because it was like your altar where sacred things were seen and touched.  When I recall the table set in the little cove in the old farmhouse kitchen, I think not only of my grandparents but also of you, Heavenly Father.

You give us
signs and symbols
of your
great love,
O God.
A simple table
can become
an altar
where we
are invited
to sit.
Thank you
for the gift
of your
loving presence
where faith
is born
again and again.

Love, Andrea