The Little Things: Beautiful Tables

Day 5, Wednesday, November 20

Read:Exodus 23:10-16

And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. (v. 16)

I love a beautiful table, and Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays with its rich color palette and focus on gratitude.

Our centerpiece will be a nostalgic tin trough filled with corn, acorns, pinecones and sunflowers. It reminds me of the bounty of the earth as well as the sheet metal shop my grandfather kept. I can almost smell his workshop again as I fill that rustic container each year.

For dinner, we will use the white ironstone I was offered when a former church decided to get new dinnerware. We use it every day and it isn’t fancy, but it’s had saints eating off of it more than 100 years, and that means something.

A beautiful table is one someone took time and joy in planning, designed not only for the taste buds but for the spirits of the friends and family who will gather there. The hope is that gratitude will be the favorite dish as we celebrate the “ingathering” once again.

I expect that’s what the original Sukkot celebrations were like (feast of ingathering), when the people went up to Jerusalem and lived for a week in a small tent. It was a time of great joy, of celebrating harvest as well as remembering God’s provision in the wilderness. Simple, but infused with meaning, even as I hope our table will be.  

As you pray, thank God for friends, family, and a feast at the table where we celebrate ingathering.