Sanctuary At The Table.
Opening Reflection:
When you picture a family table, what comes to mind? Is it laughter, silence, repair, or something you’ve always wished for but never had?
My History: The Table That Was
As a child, the table was the center of my world. It wasn’t just where we ate, it was where we gathered. Plates clattered, forks scraped, and stories spilled across the wood. Even silence had a place there. The table was a rhythm, a ritual, a reminder that family meant gathering.
But as I grew older, that rhythm faded. The chairs stayed, but the gathering dissolved. Life pulled us in different directions, and the table became less about connection and more about convenience. I can’t remember the last time I sat at a table with my whole family, eating together as we once did. The absence of that ritual left a quiet ache, a reminder that tables can hold both presence and loss.
Reader Pause:
What do you remember about your own family table? Was it a place of comfort, conflict, or something in between?
My Now: Creating the Sanctuary Table
That absence is what led me to create the sanctuary table. Not everyone has a seat to sit in. Some never knew the empty chair was meant for them. Others never felt safe in the seat they were given. The sanctuary table is for all of us, for those who love their family, for those who don’t know theirs, for those trying to repair what’s broken, and for those building something healthier than what they were handed.
The sanctuary table is not about perfection. It is about belonging. It is about creating a space where everyone has a seat, even if they’ve never felt welcome before. It is about reclaiming the table as a place of gathering, repair, and legacy.
Reader Pause:
If you could design your own table, not the furniture, but the feeling, what would it hold? Safety? Laughter? Silence that heals instead of harms?
The Table as Symbol
Tables are more than furniture. They are symbols of gathering, of repair, of legacy. They hold stories, memories, and sometimes wounds. They are places where apologies land, where laughter echoes, and where silence can feel heavier than the plates.
The sanctuary table is a metaphor for the spaces we create in our lives. It is about building places of belonging, even when belonging feels complicated. It is about holding space for what was and what can be.
The Empty Seat
Every table has an empty seat. Sometimes it is for someone who has left. Sometimes it is for someone who has never felt welcome. Sometimes it is for someone who is still finding their way. The empty seat is a reminder that the table is never complete without the presence of those who belong.
The sanctuary table is about recognizing the empty seat and making space for it. It is about inviting those who have been excluded, those who have been silenced, those who have been forgotten. It is about saying, “This seat is for you.”
Reader Pause:
Who is missing from your table? What would it mean to make space for them, even if only in your heart?
Repair at the Table
The table is where repair happens. It is where apologies are spoken, where forgiveness is offered, where bridges are built. Repair is not about erasing mistakes. It is about acknowledging them, owning them, and choosing to return.
The sanctuary table is a place of repair. It is a place where we can come together, even when we have hurt each other. It is a place where we can choose to build bridges instead of walls.
Building New Tables
Not everyone grew up with a table that felt safe. Some tables were places of conflict, of silence, of harm. The sanctuary table is about building new tables, tables that are healthier, safer, and more welcoming than the ones we were given.
Building a new table is not easy. It requires courage, vulnerability, and commitment. It requires us to break cycles, to set boundaries, to choose healing over harm. But it is worth it. Because the table we build today becomes the legacy we leave tomorrow.
Reader Pause:
If you could build a new table for your life, who would you invite to sit there? What would you serve, not just in food, but in presence?
The Table as Legacy
The sanctuary table is not just for us. It is for our children, our families, our communities. It is a legacy we leave behind. It is a reminder that belonging is possible, even when it feels complicated. It is a symbol of hope, of repair, of sanctuary.
