Can the table heal us?

And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new . . . . Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true’ (Revelation 21:5).

As the year turns new, we can turn page after page of scripture to see God’s promises of making all things new. I’ve never prayed so hard for these words to come true; have you? Scrolling headlines and clicking prayer chain emails amplifies our need.

For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind (Isaiah 65:17).

Could it be now, God? This year?                                                                                          

I wonder if your holiday feasting made the world a little bit better. Time after time, Jesus ministers through meals. Radical hospitality with outcasts and enemies. Miraculous abundance when people trust enough to share. Birthing a church through broken bread. Demonstrating resurrection through breakfast on the beach.

Could our shared meals heal this world, God? This year?

I used to believe that if we knew our neighbors, if we shared a meal from time to time and glimpsed into each other’s lives, we would live peacefully with them. Our little communal farm hosts an annual neighborhood gathering for the country miles around us as. It’s an act of faith in feasting as peacemaking, world-healing.

I lived in Northern Ireland during college and learned that some Protestant schoolchildren didn’t think they’d ever met a Catholic person (and vice versa). To me, healing seemed so possible! These barriers seemed bridgeable!

I worked in a non-sectarian pub where artist and writer identities mattered more than Catholic or Protestant around tables piled with beef stew and Harp pints. I was tipsy with hope as my mixed coworkers gathered for a “staff do” (party). But the sun went down on our feasting and the Orangemen marched and fired their guns in a “show of strength.” I found out which coworkers were Catholic when they fled into the shadows.

When I read in Left to Tell that author Immaculee Ilibagiza’s family ate with and were friends with their neighbors, and still these neighbors joined the murderous chaos in Rwanda in 1994, I lost hope in meals to make the world a better place.

Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old (Isaiah 43:18).

 This year, God? As our country fuels wars throughout the world, and anticipates a violent election year — could we feast our way to peace, this year, God?

Clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24).

I pray a new year’s renewed hope for you and your table. That you would pull up yet another, and yet another, seat. That you would turn at least a few strangers into friends through dinner. That old grudges might be forgiven over dessert. That a meal would give you the strength to talk about something hard with someone you care about.

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (Isaiah 43:19).

It’s daily bread that we pray for, as Jesus taught us. My hope for meals to make a difference needs a Lord’s Prayer reality check. One dinner party won’t change the world. But day by day, bite by bite, may it be so?

Here’s a New Year’s Day quick bread to use up whatever you toasted with the night before. Savor bite by bite, with browned butter or dipped in herbed olive oil.

Olive Oil Sweet Quick Bread

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (gluten-free all-purpose works fine)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 tsp salt
• grated zest of 1 lemon (1 Tbsp.)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (or egg replacer)
• 3/4 cup white wine, sparkling cider, or juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil

1. Prepare loaf pan with oil (you can turn the liquid measuring cup upside down in the pan after measuring the wet ingredients).
2. Stir together flour, sugar, walnuts, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in bowl.
3. In another bowl, blend liquid ingredients; stir into the dry ingredients.
4. Transfer batter into pan, and smooth the surface.
5. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.