Set the Table

 

There is no end to the interesting things I find placed at the curb in my neighborhood. As I have walked the blocks across the years, these discoveries have been a source of constant entertainment. They often spark my imagination or remind me of stories from my past. I love the variety of items left there. I love the way they are left at the street, the way people display those things they have chosen to discard.

On this particular morning I found a set of dishes stacked and displayed at the curb. Dinner plates, bread plates, saucers and bowls taking their place alongside all manner of trash in boxes and bags. My first thought was how interesting it is that, try as we might to keep from breaking a dish from time to time, we do. No matter how careful we are, dishes get chipped and cracked and broken as we use them and clean them and put them away.

But not here. These dishes were stacked on the side of the street in the blazing sun, in the weather, in a neighborhood teaming with children at play and they all remained in perfect condition. They are not smashed or broken. They seem ready to be set at a table.

These dishes also made me think of hospitality, of sharing a meal with others. They made me think of hearing and sharing the stories of our lives together. This curbside display left me with the image of an open table where any passerby is welcome and received warmly. For some reason, as I made my way down the block, I was thinking of Holy Communion.

Paul writes, “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.”

Peace.