Open Table Definition

Nothing happens in a vacuum, not even vacuuming. Relationality is at the heart of conflict transformation; a relationality of actions, people, and items are components of the varied conflict transformation processes explored throughout this course. Without relationality and interaction, our tables would be empty and quiet, our meals sparse and unpalatable, our concepts of wonder and amazement dimmed by the reality around us. A general tenet which guides my faith is the reality that being a person of faith means I am called to do difficult work. As human beings we engage imperfectly in this world and as a result experience conflict; as a person of faith I am called to do the often difficult work of forgiveness, when possible and appropriate
When I think of an open table, I think of one at which all people of the world are welcome to join in fellowship and sustenance-taking. At an open table people of diverse backgrounds are invited without pretense; people who have done harm to each other in the past, or are living through that harm in the present, can sit side by side and take in the essence of the meal before them. Porter discusses the power of the open table of communion as a place to engage in conflict and find healing in which he outlays the power of the Eucharist as well as the necessary intentionality behind preparation for the table. Porter points to Matthew 5:23-34 as guidance for being intentional about our practices of approaching the table in
In our current epidemic of mass shootings and violence in this country, some suggest a solution is to arm the “good people.” I’ve seen in recent days and weeks a statement, “A kid on the playground throws a rock at another kid on the playground. The teacher gives rocks to all of the kids, since, after all, only a good kid with a rock can stop a bad kid with a rock.” What the rock analogy displayed for me was the problem with violence in our society; violence in the name of ending violence is still simply that, violence. Arming “good people” to stop “bad people” still perpetuates the intrinsic systems of violence in our world, it continues to divide and pit people against each other rather than build a community of diverse humans. This fails to authentically address problems and instead perpetuates derision and harmful rhetoric. Dean Mary Elizabeth Moore points to this reality in her piece “Imagine Peace” when she writes, “The analysis does, however, point to a common interchange in the U.S., reflecting dominant images of war and minimalist images of peace… Violence poisons the ground upon which people live and the waters from which they drink; violence seeps into every person and every relationship. Peace will require years of dreaming, hoping, and building an alternate world.” Violence is in fact antithetical to peace, but restoration, reconciliation, and forgiveness align cohesively with the concept of