It’s Time to Eat
My two favorite holidays are Thanksgiving and Christmas. These holidays share two things: families getting together and a shared meal. In the past, those two things were a common occurrence in everyday life. Watch a TV show from the 1950s and observe how often meals are shared at home. Those meals are shown in abundance. Recently, gatherings of families to share meals at home have become rare. It is rare for a handful of reasons. One, families tend to have more evening activities than they once did. More than that, the activities are not limited to only certain days of the week; some activities take place on all seven days of the week. Two, we now have access to fast and cheap food. This access began to explode in the 1950s with startups such as McDonald’s and KFC. Instead of coming home and cooking dinner after a long day's work or evening activity, we can pick up fast food, eat it on the way home, and give ourselves more time to get ready for bed or the next day. Research backs up the claim that fewer families are eating together as well. A 2014 poll found that more than half of adults felt they had fewer meals with their families now than when they were kids.[1] (How America Lost Dinner by Amanda Mull).
The issue is not that we no longer desire to share meals with friends and family. The desire to do so is there, but life has changed in many ways that make it more difficult than it once was. What is being lost when we take away family dinners? One is quality social time together. Something happens around the dinner table that does not happen in other places. Jesus understood this, and Luke highlighted how often Jesus used a meal for his ministry. Ten times in Luke’s gospel, we read of Jesus eating with other people. It is a major focus of the book. Half of those meals are eaten with disciples, and the other half are eaten while sitting alongside sinners – in the sinner’s homes. Jesus recognized the power of sharing meals together. How many conflicts in our world today could be solved around a dinner table? How many conflicts, misunderstandings, and miscommunications within our families could be solved if we only shared a meal together?
If you have been convicted of making a change within your family, here are a few tips to help you get started:
Make family dinners a weekly occurrence.
I realize that once a week does not seem like a big enough commitment to some. However, to others, it seems like a very difficult goal to achieve. In our busy lives, it is very difficult to fit anything more into our schedules. The good news is that we all eat multiple times per day. Finding a time to do so with the entire family is an important goal to try and accomplish.
Make family dinners a communal activity.
Perhaps one reason meals are avoided is that traditionally, one person has done the cooking, set-up, and clean-up. If dinners were an activity in which the entire family participated, would it become more of a regular occurrence in our houses?
Make family dinners (and every meal) screen-free.
The value of a family meal is taken away when screens are present. When screens are present, communication is often lacking. Although you are eating together in the truest, most literal sense of the word, none can deny that it is not much different than if you had eaten alone.
Family dinners are worth any extra effort that they might take. Let us all try to eat more together.
[1] Amanda Mull. “How America Lost Dinner”, The Atlantic, 10, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/10/work-its-whats-for-dinner/599770/