"Eating Together"

"Every mealtime fills Christians with gratitude for the living, present Lord and God, Jesus Christ. Not that they seek any morbid spiritualization of material gifts; on the contrary, Christians, in their wholehearted joy in the good gifts of this physical life, acknowledge their Lord as the true giver of all good gifts; and beyond this, as the true Gift; the true Bread of life itself; and finally, as the One who is calling them to the banquet of the Kingdom of God. So in a singular way, the daily table fellowship binds the Christians to their Lord and one another. At table they know their Lord as the one who breaks bread for them; the eyes of their faith are opened." ~ Life Together -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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In this book, Bonhoeffer begins to give us a picture of what does and should take place in the gathering and eating together daily; breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We see by God's faithfulness, in providing for us our daily bread, a divine interaction at every meal between the Creator and the created; and we see the covenant bonds revealed with our brothers and sisters as we eat of the same bread together.
It is becoming funny to me just how often I hear other Christians tell me how much closer they feel to God out in nature hiking in the mountains, or ripping down a ski slope (especially in Bozeman, Montana), which, I believe, is a legitimate blessing to them from our God as He interacts with them in the beauty and adventure of His Creation. But why don't I ever hear someone tell me how close they feel to God when they sit down to each lunch on Tuesday afternoon? Why doesn't my own heart realize the presence of God's providence when it sits right before my eyes, and the smell wanders to my nose setting off my saliva glands, and my tastes buds wait in anticipation as my belly groans to be filled . . . once again.