Come to the Table

A lovely table; it is the symbol of having a special place of welcome,  comfort and joy.  It is a picture of hospitality, it is a place of fellowship, and if peace and harmony are at the head of the table, it is a sweet and  wonderful place to be.  All through History, our Heavenly Father has welcomed those who will come to His table;  if we "would" come.  In the same way we desire to be with the ones we love,  He desires to be with us.   In Matthew 22: 1-14, Jesus tells the parable of the king who gave a feast for his son and called the invited to come to the feast he had prepared... but they would not come, and so He invited others...  In Revelation, He has prepared a feast for us, and we, again, are all invited, if we will just answer the invitation.  He is our gracious Host our wonderful example of love and welcome, of invitation and hospitality all we need do is respond.

I love to set a pretty table.  For  for special celebrations, I usually prepare and decorate my table a day or two ahead, because if I don't prepare ahead, it becomes a  burden  that piles up and overwhelms me.  Its the creative "preparation" I enjoy, so I set aside the time for that.    Just think that  Jesus also, is  "preparing" for us.  He went to prepare a place for us, and that at the right time, He will come and receive us to Him.  He also has taken great delight in preparing a table and a home for us.

This year for the Easter/Resurrection Sunday, our celebration was smaller than it has been in times past.  But it was very sweet, and precious.  I enjoyed decorating and cooking for Steve, Eddie, my friend Roxy (whose husband had to work that day) and myself.  Because of the Holiday, I have had table settings on my mind;  I like to collect table settings on Pinterest, and love to see them in magazines and blogs.  My Mom, my Mother in law, and my friend Barbara  have always set the loveliest tables that inspired me; So, I wanted to start a little  collection here of "Table Settings" to share with you as well.

As I was in the process of writing this post, I was popping in and catching up with blogging friends, and saw that Ann on Eight Acres of Eden also did a post on her Holiday table, so I am going to link her today, because it was such a great post and I thought you would really be blessed by it.

My Mom and my girls and I have a love for dishes of all sorts; especially blue dishes.

 This platter came from England.  My Mom got it there when we lived there years ago;  I was a little girl, at that time.   She has allowed me to enjoy many of  her dishes and her lovely silverware.

This is an old picture I took when I was getting ready to clean my silver several years ago.  I have silverware from my Mom and my Grandma Flossie.  It is one of my favorite things.

These blue dishes are dishes that Mom and Dad got for their wedding.  

Little additions make a pretty table.

    Remember that even though the days are sometimes dark and difficult,  He promised to
"Prepare a table for us....."

     

   "You  prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies."

Psalm 23:5

Emily's Hospitality

Talking about hospitality this week,  made me think of Emily Post and what she taught the past generations in the "Art of Hospitality", so I googled her and enjoyed reading about her, and reading her suggestions. I included the little biography of her here, and also a list of "10 Rules of Hospitality" that she wrote.  

Hospitality

dictionary.reference.com/browse/hospitality

Hospitality definition, the friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers.

It is an elemental part of being a Christian isn't it?  It is a part of the way we show love.

Emily Post/Biography

• Born: 27 October 1872
• Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
• Died: 25 September 1960
• Best Known As: Mid-20th century American expert on etiquette

Name at birth: Emily Price
Emily Post was an American writer and socialite who became the nation's most famous authority on how to behave graciously in society and business. Early in her career she wrote society columns and travelogues of pre-World War I Europe. Post published her first novel in 1904 and had a bestselling non-fiction book in 1909, but it was her 1922 book, Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage (also Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home) that made her career. The success of the book led to a radio show and a syndicated newspaper column, and in 1946 she founded the Emily Post Institute for the Study of Gracious Living. By the time Post died in 1960, her book on etiquette had been revised many times and was in its 89th printing. The institute and the brand name continued after her death, directed first by Elizabeth Lindley Post, then by Peggy Grayson Post.


Many sources give Post's birth year as 1873; the Emily Post Institute site says 1872... Modern versions of Emily Post include Judith "Miss Manners" Martin and Martha Stewart.




Ten Rules of Hospitality
by Emily Post

1. "Ideal conversation must be an exchange of thought, and not, as many of those who worry most about their shortcomings believe, an eloquent exhibition of wit or oratory."
2. "Nothing is less important than which fork you use. Etiquette is the science of living. It embraces everything. It is ethics. It is honor."
3. "The attributes of a great lady may still be found in the rule of the four S's: Sincerity, Simplicity, Sympathy and Serenity."
4. "Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use."
5. "To the old saying that man built the house but woman made of it a "home" might be added the modern supplement that woman accepted cooking as a chore but man has made of it a recreation."
6. "The good guest is almost invisible, enjoying him or herself, communing with fellow guests, and, most of all, enjoying the generous hospitality of the hosts."
7. "She must not swing her arms as though they were dangling ropes; she must not switch herself this way and that; she must not shout; and she must not, while wearing her bridal veil, smoke a cigarette."
8. "Manners are made up of trivialities of deportment which can be easily learned if one does not happen to know them."
9. "The most vulgar slang is scarcely worse than the attempted elegance which those unused to good society imagine to be the evidence of cultivation."
10. "Any child can be taught to be beautifully behaved with no effort greater than quiet patience and perseverance, whereas to break bad habits once they are acquired is a Herculean task."

Mad Hatter Hospitality

Did you ever come away from a gathering feeling more frazzled than refreshed.  I think that is how Alice must have truly felt after her tea party.  Maybe Lewis Carol was ahead of his time when he wrote "Alice in Wonderland", because the "Mad Hatter" seems like something right out of todays news.


I was thinking about hospitality after a conversation I had with my daughter in law recently, and we were discussing how "hospitality" (in both the giving of and receiving of) is diminishing into a lost art form.


Now don't get me wrong, I have been the recipient of some of the most wonderful hospitality in the past and present, from those whom I love and who love me, but in society as a whole, it does not seem like the art of hospitality is cultivated like it used to be.  I'm sure we have all been to or hosted gatherings that ended up feeling like we were at the "Mad Hatters" tea party.


So many things have changed in the last 30 years since I was first married.  The world truly is a different place.  In Matthew 24:12 we're told that in the last days, because of the increase of wickedness, most people's love will grow cold.  I am so sad about this and realize that we have been given a forewarning about how things will proceed, but with the warning,  an ability to stop it from happening in our own sphere; our homes.  Our homes are the safe haven that show the light in the dark world.  It is our place of peace, if indeed the Holy Spirit is welcome and free there.  We find a delightful opportunity to refresh, encourage and bless someone, by having them in our home.  Whether it is for coffee, lunch, tea, or dinner,  it is something very precious to the Lord when we are hospitable.


Perhaps it is the kindness, graciousness and servanthood that is all too often missing at gatherings. Perhaps it is politeness and manners and responding with interest and understanding that has disappeared.  I was thinking that it would be nice to inspire each other with  comments, suggestions or stories, so that we might cultlivate that lovely art of hospitality once again.  I think our Southern sisters have a little bit of a head start in this arena and could surely inspire us.