Dinner is More Than Food

Charmaine Rusin (pastor-mom), Living Faith Community Church

MAPLECREST - The more things change, the more they stay the same. This is a phrase that my literary brain finds somewhat pedestrian and obtuse, but even so, I’m forced to agree that there are scenarios where it truly does fit.

One of those being the value of gathering as a family around the dinner table. The burden on parents to ensure their children’s health and safety, both physically and emotionally, may have once seemed like a backpack suitable for a day hike.

But in 2024, it feels more like pulling one of those beat-up drag-race trucks with a chain around your chest at an Iron Man contest. Just like those contestants, some days we parents truly hurt all over.

Of course, the exponentially increased stresses aren’t saddled solely on the parents. This generation of children are enduring pressures that no previous generation has ever known.

Even as so much in our world has changed, research has consistently shown throughout the decades that families who eat meals together fare the shifting storms of this life better than those who don’t.

People have come together over the breaking of bread since the beginning of human existence, and this simple act still provides an impactful connection.

With the phones away and devices silenced, a family meal fills much more than stomachs, and nourishes much more than the bodies.

It is a time when we look into one another’s eyes, free from distractions, and connect with each other’s hearts. Sharing a meal may lead to sharing our burdens, our joy, our struggles and our victories.

And doing that over and over leads to sharing our lives. Dinner together can be simple, the most important ingredients are the people.