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Feasting at the Table






The Life Giving Table by Sally Clarkson

The table has always been a lively place that I remember growing up with my parents, brother and sister.  Now, with my own wife and daughter, dinner conversations can turn to amazing, funny, and profound topics.  Sally Clarkson, in her new book, The Life Giving Table shares her heart and experience of table meals, expressing her hopes that the table can become a place of joy and tears, fellowship, feasting, and laughter.

The vision that Sally has comes forth in the first chapter on Tableology.  She writes, “When we sit at our tables, we’re not just an aggregate of individual family members eating and drinking to stay alive; we’re a congregation of communing souls hungering and thirsting to experience the goodness and beauty of the life God has designed just for us” (12).  The table is a sign of God’s beauty and grace, for his communing church.  She writes later about Jesus, “But Jesus didn’t simply use food as a tool in His ministry.  He made it integral to His explanation of who He was and what He had come to do.” (17).  The Bible uses meals and stories of God’s provision for the people of God to further explain his character.  This is the same case in the life of Jesus.  His life and ministry reflect the beautiful character of generosity.

Sunday morning celebrations are part of the Clarkson household.  She writes, “And God, the creator of all that is good and beautiful in the world, is the ultimate Celebrator.  He made puppy dogs, daisies, sunsets, chocolate, and first loves.  Since he has given us the generous gift of His creation, it would be thumbing our nose at God not to revel in it and thank Him with every breath we have.” (91)  Sally tells her readers of the sit-down breakfasts of pancakes, devotional, and time to for reflection that she did with her children as they were younger.  This anchor, the rhythm of feasting, reading, and reflecting is a time to check in with the Lord, to slow the frenetic pace of the weekdays.

This is a truly encouraging book, one that will challenge your family to take time for feasting and enjoying each other and what God has done in your midst.

Thanks to Tyndale Momentum for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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