The routine of a household meal
hen the history of the 21st century it written, the migration of people on a massive scale will stand out.
And a question for us in Britain is this: what was our response like?
A visit last week from Afghan families who recently fled their homes has reminded me of the scale and intensity of migration.
Relief agencies have noted the difficulty of responding to the catastrophic conflict in Ukraine, when they are still trying to help asylum-seekers in desperate need of finding a place where they will be safe.
English chaplaincies across Europe report that they are opening their places of worship as centres of hospitality at the meal table, giving information, medical care, and friendship.
My visitors from Afghanistan, all of them with young children, were living in temporary homes across Sussex.
Some spoke English but the group had an excellent interpreter who had also fled with them.
They wanted to know about our culture. They were Muslims and so meeting a Christian leader was important to them for finding out about the religion that has shaped us in Britain.
Christians, Muslims and Jews have much in common. We believe in one God. We share a reference to Abraham in our sacred books.
Even allowing for a language barrier, my Afghan guests were more articulate and interested in Christianity than most white British people are.
And I was struck by something else. Eating together was at the centre of their family life.
For people in most other parts of the world sharing in the family meal is the obvious way to respect and welcome to others.
My impression is that the dining table now has no space or little routine use in our homes.
We rarely eat together, and consequently we find it difficult to offer this form of welcome that transcends language as an international sign of goodwill.
This should be especially shocking for Christians, because in church the ritual of bread and wine is so fundamental to our sense of welcome and human dignity.
Perhaps the arrival of refugees and asylums seekers will help us to realise that we lack routine of a household meal as the context of welcome and hospitality.