As we look toward Holy Week, the breakdown of human connection and the American family is apparent. We are suffering from a lack of connection that, for centuries, was found around the dining room table.
Throughout our nation’s history, what happened around the dining room table carried the American Spirit. Now, the American family gathers in an open-concept room to eat a quick bite, watch their YouTube channel, and doom scroll, all while the foundation of our homes is suffering and dying. The tactics and technology that culture sold as connection-building have only promoted isolation.
Over the past several years, I have noticed an uptick in homes being designed to resemble an open floor plan meant to create more space and foster an inclusive lifestyle. Many recent articles have highlighted the vanishing of dining rooms in homes and even of dining room furniture from furniture stores. They talk about how this new and popular layout affects not just families but even the political climate.
The modern-day images we see depict the American family as fractured and isolated. How did this happen? It wasn’t a singular event — it’s been a quiet descent, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as I write this, I remember with fondness the powerful gatherings around the dining room table that I enjoyed growing up. And which, in retrospect, we took for granted. Looking back, the foundation of every home was a constant open door to the community, where there was a steady flow of food, family, conversation, and faith.
The pandemic definitely shifted our culture — but if we are honest with one another, we saw the shift long before that. We knew our homes, our churches, and our communities were deteriorating and disconnecting even before 2020. Social media isn’t all bad, but there is no question that it has led to increased isolation, where it promised increased connection. Between that and elected leaders who mandated isolation during the pandemic, we have witnessed the crumbling foundation of freedom and faith. And this crumbling has taken a toll on the physical presence and spiritual emphasis in homes across America.
All throughout the Bible, we see the importance of gathering around a table. It was Queen Esther who prepared a special banquet table where she could make her case to the king and plead with him to save her people. In the New Testament, we see more than one occasion where Jesus fed several thousand people in a series of miraculous events. These were times of teaching and people coming to believe that He was, indeed, the Messiah, yes, but there was also a time of connection with community.
In both Mark’s and Luke’s telling of the famous “feeding of the 5,000,” they state that Jesus had the people sit down in groups together to receive the food that was miraculously provided. It was Martha who worked tirelessly to prepare a table for Jesus to gather with those who came to hear him teach. And of course, it was during the Last Supper that Jesus gathered his disciples around the most famous and consequential table of all the night before his betrayal. Many biblical moments of importance took place around a table.
These biblical examples set the foundation for American culture where homes were built on the powerful truth of Judeo-Christian principles. It was George Washington who established the important tradition of gathering around the main dining room to pray for a new nation. Mount Vernon is one of many national symbols that highlight the importance of the dining room and of community gatherings. Gatherings that inspired, many years later, the First Lady of the United States, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, who used dining room gatherings as a way to create diplomatic connections. The dining room table is a powerful representation of the faith traditions this country was built upon.
As our nation sees a new wartime climate unfolding, may we remember the dining room table. It has carried previous generations of families through World War II and every other conflict throughout our history. From “the Greatest Generation” to Irish Catholic families to Protestants and Puritans, families have historically gathered to celebrate three key religious holidays: Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. After attending Mass or service together, families would gather around the dining room table and enjoy conversations of religion and politics, of storytelling and remembering. Conversations which began with a prayer of thanksgiving for the abundance of God’s goodness.
Today, I doubt the Greatest Generation would recognize the modern home, nor would they recognize the cultural tailspin. As I was looking through my social media feed recently, I ran across a post from a well-known actress. The post depicted a comparison between dining rooms and the decline in cultural priorities. The side-by-side image showed an American home in 1980, with the family gathered around the dining room table, heads bowed in prayer over a meal. The second image, dated 2024, showed a family around a dining room table, disconnected from each other but connected to their headphones, iPhones, and other devices. All heads bowed, but not to the Creator of Heaven and Earth.
I have always said that from the halls of Congress to the White House, our homes have the power to lead culture and community; to inspire a nation. When we gather around the dining room table, we make decisions and have conversations that are more impactful than any presidential speech, Senate vote, or Congressional resolution. We, the American family, have the greatest resource at our fingertips — the dining room table. It has carried the American Spirit since our founding. It is where discussions and conversations of faith center the home and where the leaders of tomorrow are formed.
Eden Gordon Hill is founder and owner of Eden Gordon Media, LLC, as well as a weekend radio host at WMAL’s “The All-American Book Club,” veteran spouse, former Trump appointee, and advocate for faith, family, and freedom.
