Use the China

We had a busy weekend at the parsonage. Between family and guests Lin and I counted that we served almost 80 meals between Friday evening and Sunday night. In the course of the weekend Mom’s China was in and out of the dishwasher a few times.

I remember a day when Mom wouldn’t put her China in our new dishwasher. She had heard that the dishwasher would harm the China, remove the silver edging and the designs. And she would only use the China for very special occasions. Never for just family. Then after Dad and Mom bought a China cabinet and the China was more available, Mom began using the China more often. And she began putting it in the dishwasher!

I remember her talking to me about her change of heart. She said she was always “saving the China.” And one day she asked herself: “Saving it for what? Saving it for whom?” She decided on that day that she enjoyed using the China and that there was no future day to enjoy it that was better than TODAY.

I believe Mom struck upon an important theology. TODAY is our only opportunity to enjoy all the gifts of God: relationships, physical and material blessings, even life itself. I have no guarantee of tomorrow but I do have TODAY. It makes no sense to wish I had another day when I can enjoy a sermon TODAY. It is sin to desire another marriage relationship while I trash the one I could nurture TODAY. It is sin to ignore my children’s needs when I could spend time with them TODAY. TODAY is the best day to use the China.

So I have Mom’s cabinet, her China, and many glass pieces that remind me of Mom. I use them often. And we put most of them in the dishwasher. Yes, the silver is chipping and the designs are fading and the cut-glass is pitting, but God’s only gift of time is for TODAY. So we will continue using the China.

Sometimes, in the bustle of my kitchen, I step back and look at the table and say to myself, “Look, Mom. Isn’t this fun?” Being a little nervous about such things, she would have shook her head at me for serving so many people this weekend, but she would have been happy to have provided the China.