Discussing
Eating alone, eating with Jesus

As our culture increasingly encourages eating alone, we would do well to remember the dining habits of Jesus.

Such a thoughtful reflection, Branson. I especially like your observation here:

"There’s nothing “efficient” about sitting down and eating with other people. There has to be some value above and beyond the tyranny of the urgent to make us eat together."

I totally get what you mean about this. I've declined meal offers before, even after-church meal invitations with my own brothers and sisters in our congregation, simply because I didn't want to spend an hour and a half in a restaurant when I had so many things to do at home. It makes me think about the Pauline dispute over "food offered to idols" and whether it was right for believers to partake in such meals. There the question was at least one of socializing with the ungodly and trying to avoid erecting stumbling blocks. Here, the question is of whether eating alone in order to avoid the company of others is not itself a form of idolatrous worship. Could it be that, quite without realizing it, in strategically eating alone we're actually ourselves partaking of food offered to idols?

Your comment:
"In our culture, there’s already a sense of separation and isolation in what we eat, which makes me wonder if that also manifests itself in how we eat."
provoked my thoughts about the diversity of eating choices pervasive in our culture now.... gluten free/vegan/vegetarian/paleo etc... Trying to prepare meals for friends and family is nearly impossible because everyone is trapped by what they are consuming.