The Table My Mother Set for Me

“Mom, I’m home!”

“Did you eat all your lunch without leaving anything? How was school today? I peeled apples and put them in the fridge. Have some, and there are also some steamed sweet potatoes on the table, so eat them, too, along with a glass of milk, okay?”

“Okay.”

This  is  the  conversation  between me  and  my  son;  we  have  this  kind of  conversation  around  three  in  the afternoon every day. My son responds with a simple answer over the phone and I only talk about food, “You have to eat this and that.” One day, my colleague sitting next to me jokingly said, “You didn’t mention rice cakes today.” Only then did I realize that my main topic of conversation with my son used to be food—“Eat this,” or, “Eat that.”

The next day, I became conscious of the people around me, and I changed the subject and asked my son how his day at school was. However, I could not help but feel that something was missing in our conversation. As usual, I got to the point—the most important thing—and talked to him about the things he had to eat. Only then did I feel relieved.

It is partly because my son is shorter than his friends and especially because he is a picky eater. So, the most important topic of my conversation with my son is “eating”—I always check to see if he ate his lunch without leaving anything out and tell him to make sure to eat snacks I prepared before I left my home for work.

Come to think of it, I was the same when I was a child. According to my mom, I was picky about food even before I was a year old. I did not eat baby food well, and even after I was able to walk, my mom had to chase me every day, holding a bowl of rice. When I went to school, I gave half the food in my lunch box to my classmates, and before I got married, my mom and I were at war every evening because I was on a diet. My mother focused all her energy on making me eat until I got married.

Now I live healthy with an average height and weight for my age. It is all thanks to my mother’s food. My mom prepared delicious food for me so that I would eat it when I woke up from a sound sleep every morning. As she knew that I was picky about food, she made food I liked, taking into consideration the nutritional value as well. Now I miss my mother’s food very much. When Heavenly Father and Mother came in the flesh, They provided physical and spiritual food for Their heavenly children. In the early years of the Church of God when the seed of the gospel started to be sown—especially during the difficult economic times for Korea when people did not have enough food, the children of Heavenly Father and Mother were able to appease their hunger in the bountiful love of Father and Mother. I can imagine Father and Mother being joyful and satisfied when They saw Their children sharing steamed potatoes together with big smiles on their faces while sitting around a table.

Today, too, Father Ahnsahnghong and Heavenly Mother (God the Mother) prepare spiritual food for us, Their children, hoping that we will be spiritually full and healthy. Mother’s words of life give me comfort and hope when my soul is about to fall into a swamp of despair, Father’s Truth Books help remind me of my hope for heaven when I am lacking in patience, and the gracious sermons give me courage and boldness when I hesitate, irresolute in faith. All these are the nutritious foods Father and Mother have prepared for my soul. I will eat all those foods to my heart’s content with joy and thankfulness, so that I can gain new strength to run the path of the gospel powerfully. And I pledge myself to carry out the mission of giving my spiritual brothers and sisters the abundant food of life.