The Table Still Speaks: What This Season Has Been Teaching Me

There’s something about the table.

Not just the food on it — but what happens around it.

In this season, I’ve found myself sitting at more tables. Not necessarily cooking, not necessarily hosting — but receiving. Listening. Being present.

And it has reminded me of something deeply familiar.

I was raised in a home where food was never just about eating. It was about community. A table could hold curry goat and white rice, next to rice and peas, next to jollof from a neighbour, next to something new that someone brought to share. It didn’t need to match. It didn’t need to be perfect.

It just needed to be open.

The Ministry of the Table

Scripture reminds us:

“They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.”
— Acts 2:46

The early church understood something we are still learning:

There is ministry in the table.

Not everything happens at the altar.
Some things happen over a shared meal.

Conversation.
Healing.
Laughter.
Reflection.

Even Jesus Himself often met people at the table.

Jesus and the Table

Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus:

• Eating with tax collectors and sinners

• Sitting with His disciples

• Breaking bread before revelation

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock… I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
— Revelation 3:20

There is intimacy in dining.

There is access in sitting.

There is relationship in staying.

Learning to Receive

For a long time, I’ve known myself as someone who pours out.

Through food.
Through service.
Through creating.

But this season has been different.

This season has been about receiving.

Receiving care.
Receiving presence.
Receiving love through simple acts — like sitting at a table with my sisters and sharing a meal.

And I am reminded:

“Give, and it will be given to you…”
— Luke 6:38

Sometimes, the “given back” doesn’t look like what you expected.

Sometimes, it looks like a seat at a table you didn’t prepare.

A Table Without Borders

Recently, I experienced this again at Sweet 1ne — where Afro-fusion dishes met creativity and culture.

Jollof met sushi.
Plantain met precision.
Tradition met exploration.

And it reminded me of how food carries identity, memory, and possibility.

I’ve been exploring more — Caribbean, West African, Asian, Latin-inspired dishes — even cuisines from places I’ve not yet visited.

And in doing so, I’m realising:

The table is a place of discovery.

Final Reflection

This season is teaching me:

Life is not just about what you produce.
It’s also about what you receive.

Not every moment is for pouring out.
Some moments are for sitting down.

And letting God nourish you — through people, through presence, through the table.