Around the Table, Across the World

I was alone this Mother’s Day, and I was grateful. Why? Because my son and husband—Colton and Todd—are currently in Japan enjoying their first trip outside the country. They keep in touch, and occasionally they send photos of a touristy landmark, but more often my guys send candid pictures of people and food. There are bowls of ramen from the back corner of a gas station. A vegetarian feast of Nepali food shared in Kobe. Neapolitan pizza delivered to their narrow little apartment tucked into an alley of Kyoto.

And the people photos are precious. Crowds at the train, locals at the market, and even a group of school children who approached Colton at a temple wanting to speak English with him. As I looked at that last photo, my eyes welled up, not because he was far away, but because I recognized something in him that also lives in me. He has inherited my wanderlust, my curiosity, and my desire to move beyond what is familiar in hopes of connecting with others. Even here at home, we both prefer wandering side streets, perusing ethnic markets, eating unfamiliar meals, and allowing life to unfold on its own terms. Food has become one of the ways our family understands connection. Across languages, cultures, and oceans, meals still invite people to sit together, listen, laugh, and learn from one another. We all remain connected around the table through stories, photographs, and shared delight.

Perhaps that is why this week’s passage from Proverbs 31 keeps pulling at me. As I reflect on the text, I linger on the Hebrew word chayil. Though often translated virtuous, the word carries a much fuller sense of courage, resilience, strength, and valor. It is not soft, passive language. It describes a person whose life is shaped by endurance and attentiveness. The woman of Proverbs 31 is said to nourish her household, even feeding her family by “bringing her food from afar.” There is something expansive in that image. Her world is not small. She reaches beyond herself to nourish others well. Her strength is formative and cultivates something that endures in the people around her. 

I’m honored that some of who I am is also a part of who my son is becoming. Listening to Colton’s new stories, I have noticed that he moves beyond the visual and describes the pungent smells of backstreet restaurants and the strange quiet of the train, where passengers remain nearly silent out of respect for one another. From across the world, he is trying to share his experiences through the fullness of his senses. That detail shows in the images, too, where I see him wandering along narrow Japanese streets, sharing meals with strangers, and speaking with school children. It makes me proud to be his mom.

So, Mother’s Day was extra special this year. Still, I wish we would broaden the name to Caregivers’ Day because through love and care, we all quietly shape one another. The meals we share, the tables we gather around, and the ways we practice hospitality and attentiveness to the world become part of who we are as people of faith. The woman of Proverbs 31 reflects a deep courage, the kind that shows up in openness, generosity, and connection; that’s for all of us. Perhaps wisdom itself is found in learning how to nourish one another well, not only through food, but through presence and the willingness to step alongside people to experience other worlds—even the worlds right in our own neighborhoods.