Eating is a small, good thing in a time like this” (Raymond Carver, “A Small, Good Thing,” Cathedral, 1983). This line in the final scene of Carver’s short story is the turning point toward reconciliation and healing for its main characters. What follows in the scene is a poignant act of meal-sharing between strangers who had misunderstood each another. But in expressing their own individual suffering and loss while sharing a bit of warm bread and coffee, they find communion.
In times of despair, anger, grief, or shame, eating something with another person often begins to unlock the door to reconciliation. The simple act of eating a simple meal with another seems to feed not only our bodies but also our… Click To TweetHow often has a meal been the small, good thing that mended a relationship in your life? In times of despair, anger, grief, or shame, eating something with another person often begins to unlock the door to reconciliation. The simple act of eating a simple meal with another seems to feed not only our bodies but also our hunger for human connection and reconnection.
On that seashore, over a breakfast of cooked fish and a bit of bread, such hungers were fed! How about us? What longings do we bring to our own kitchen tables, with all their chaos and uneasy quiet, piled with dishes, to-do lists, and bills? At table and altar alike, Christ waits to feed our every need.
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