Abundance at the Table

We just enjoyed a very non-traditional Thanksgiving. And it was delightful. One of my daughters proposed that each of us bring a dish from a country where we have lived and served. The menu included:

• Pinakbet from the Philippines
• Papa a la Huancaina from Peru
• Saucisses aux lentilles and far Breton from France
• Empanadas from Chile
• Mini sweet potato pizzas from Italy (That one used a little creative license.)
• Dumplings from Korea - courtesy of some family friends who are from Korea.

  

The delight was in the busy kitchen for two hours before the meal, each preparing a dish to share with each other. There was a little egg bartering, searching for missing ingredients and healthy competition about whose dish was going to be best. There are many things I absolutely adored about Thanksgiving afternoon at our home, but one I want to focus on is gratitude born of the abundance mindset. Everyone had something to share and no one was diminished by another's offering. No one had to tell another how to prepare and serve their dish. There was a spirit of gratitude and joy all afternoon. Each contribution was received, respected and enjoyed.

Without delving into deep academic, political or theological discussions, can I draw the simplest of analogies with our Thanksgiving table? The spirit of inclusion and diversity in our tiny orbit was instructive, I think, about the broader current culture. Is it possible to bring our diversity of belief to the table and find respect and gratitude?  May we appreciate each personal contribution as unique and valued? Can we make room for each other knowing that the many dishes contribute to the gratitude and joy that can be felt?

The abundance brings a richness to the table. Perhaps in its most simplistic form, scarcity says, if I succeed, you can’t, and if you succeed, I can’t. Abundance says, there is enough for everyone. Is it possible at the heart of the drive to tear down another's success or belief is that somehow there is a fixed amount of belief or resources making the pie and if you have it, I don’t? And when the pie is gone–its gone?

Abundance is also about gratitude. Gratitude inhabits that space of choice between scarcity and abundance. It acknowledges and appreciates what is brought to the table and bridges the gap without trying to criticize or homogenize the result. As I was pondering these thoughts, I smiled at a simple act of kindness that illustrated to me the collective abundance of giving and sharing. Thursday evening we devoured a small pumpkin pie with other desserts. On Friday evening, the doorbell rang and a dear neighbor brought a pie three times the size of the pumpkin pie we ate the day before. I smiled to myself - there is always enough pie to go around.