This Thanksgiving, set an extra place at the table

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This Thanksgiving, friends and family members will sit in the family room, great room or at the hearth of the fireplace waiting for the big event — dinner. A two-hour dinner experience that took about 40 hours of planning; cleaning, shopping, unthawing, ordering, delivering, chopping, rinsing, stirring, cooking, baking, tasting and setting, for one experience — eating.

The aroma of some of the most delicious foods will fill the air, make mouths water and taste buds dance. Turkey, ham, stuffing, dressing, cranberry sauce, casseroles, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, squash, pies and pastries will adorn tables, invite appetites and promise gastric delight.

Jokes, smiles, teasing and laughter will remind us of how loving and affirming it is to be with family and friends. The warmth, care and coziness of a gathering place will remind us that home is a safe, grounding base.

Some conversations will include the football games between the Bears and the Lions, the Bills and the Cowboys and the Saints and the Falcons. Other conversations will include happenings and hearings in Washington, D.C. Some discussions will include great family memories, catching up on what one another has been doing and reflecting on who is not sitting at the earthly table.

The host who created a feast around allergies, vegan preferences and travel changes will be gracious, exhausted and hospitable. Everyone at the table will be eager, hungry and thankful.

Before dinner, we will hold hands, bow our heads and pray. We will thank the Lord for our family, the food that has been prepared, those who prepared the food and those who have nothing to eat.

After dinner, we will push back from the table satisfied and stuffed. Before the tryptophan from the turkey or the heaviness of the meal invokes sleep, there is another table that has been set for us. The table of service awaits our presence as a way for us to participate in the fulfillment of our Thanksgiving prayer.

While we enjoy the fullness of Thanksgiving, there are others who will battle emptiness during this holiday. It is in these emptiness experiences that God calls us into service with strangers, neighbors, friends and family. Where are these experiences for service?

• Laughter, that is a comforting and contagious guest at most homes, may be regarded as a trespasser to the lonely, angry and depressed.
• Many people will not enjoy the company of family and friends because they have been separated, divorced, widowed, detained, incarcerated or kicked out of the house because of life choices.
• Growling, pangs and cramps are the gastric experiences of those who try to quiet, quell and quench the relentless companionship of hunger.
• The arrogance and addiction of alcohol and drugs have defeated resistance and steered some people to a place of apathy.
• Thousands of people will duck gale force winds, dodge threats of rain and snow and divert into the crevices of overpasses, wishing for a home, hearth or a haven to shelter them from nature’s harsh elements.

These are Christ’s children — alive, struggling and in need of hope. Some of them can be easily found in shelters, under bridges or wandering in the street. Some of them are hidden in plain sight — a few doors away, at the workplace, on social media and within our own family.

Vulnerability, desperation, hunger, homelessness, loneliness and addiction do not subside for a holiday.

Who is not coming to Thanksgiving dinner? Who wasn’t invited to dinner? Who lost a loved one last year and will have their first Thanksgiving without that person? Who is unemployed? Who have you not heard from in months? Who should you call, text or email? Who do you need to visit? Where should you go to serve?

Vulnerability, desperation, hunger, homelessness, loneliness and addiction do not subside for a holiday. This Thanksgiving season, there is a table setting for us to serve. Whether we are serving Christ’s children in community kitchens, shelters or somewhere else, place the utensils down for a few minutes to serve something that will stick to their ribs, still their spirit and strip away their doubt. Share humanity — be a host of listening, compassion, empathy, hope and prayer.

Matthew 25:35-36: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2DptIIN