For-no-reason Parties

They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.

—Psalm 36:8

I’m a big believer in for-no-reason parties—those last-minute parties, where the house is less than squeaky clean, where the guest list is “whoever could come with three days’ notice,” and the menu is “whatever I could think of and whatever goes with feta or chutney.”

There’s something about seeing your house filled with people you love, something about feeding people, especially on days when it seems like you can’t make a dent in any of the larger, more theoretical challenges in life.

I may not know where we’ll be in five years or how exactly we’ll pay the mortgage the next few months or when we’ll have another child, but I do know how to make dinner, and to see the people I care about gobble it up makes me feel like something is right, even when it seems like nothing is. There’s something so healing about those quiet moments at the table, when everyone’s mouth—or mind or heart—is full, when you feel connected and nourished and content, even if it’s just for a split second.