Featuring Sam Fagan, Church and Community Engagement Lead with Tearfund Australia.
Chopping board woodcut print on paper
Printmaking is an art form of mystery and revelation. Most of the time is spent carving or etching on a piece of wood, metal or plastic – yet this in itself is not the artwork. Only later, as the plate is carefully inked up and printed, is truth revealed.
I printed this chopping board from my Granny and Grandpa Dan’s home. Etched on its surface are countless knife strokes made from preparing meals for friends and strangers, their selfless hospitality made manifest.
There was once a table I visited every second Wednesday. The invitation was open; I chose to come almost every time. Its rhythm felt supportive, strengthening. This table welcomed young people, students, and migrants chasing dreams or spiritual quests. It was a guarantee: no matter the week – joyous, exhausting, or failure – I had a place, a meal, and the presence of others. Strangers became companions, revealing our shared humanity and how stories teach us to be honest and brave.
The table had soul. Our host set it with heirlooms that spoke if you asked. We loved questions – those that move beneath the surface to the deeper places where hope and disappointment dance. I learned to listen here and I heard of broken people with expectations gone wrong in the form of addiction, divorce, abuse, loneliness.
Yet when vulnerability met a loving gaze, a thank you, a wise response, or silence that honored pain, the table became a place of healing. Each story expanded what I believed. Things grew bigger, more generous, more loving. The table reframed my faith – God’s presence everywhere, with everyone. Like the road to Emmaus, my heart burned here. Breaking bread with those unlike me revealed the holy mystery: Christ present in ordinary elements – bread, wine, and us.
Loving God, thank You for places that welcome us as we are, for meals that nourish body and soul. Teach us to listen to You, to each other, to the stirrings within. Meet us in mystery in bread and wine, laughter and tears, in strangers becoming friends. Make our tables holy ground, where grace heals and love widens our vision. Keep our hearts burning as we walk together, until all creation shares Your communion. Amen.
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