Etymology of Table

The term "table" is derived from a merger of French table and Old English tabele, ultimately from the Latin word tabula, "a board, plank, flat piece". In late Latin, tabula took over the meaning previously reserved to mensa (preserved in Spanish mesa "table"). In Old English, the word replaced bord for this meaning.

It is interesting that these latin words have appeared with other connotations.

Mensa - The high IQ society has taken its name from the idea of a round table where all members are equal. The church should of course foster the same ideals.

Tabula Rasa - Means a blank slate or piece of paper. The idea being that this is what we are before experience writes its story upon us. The idea of the table being blank or empty until filled by convivium appeals to me.

The picture shows a small Franciscan church , built in 1861, contains a slab of chalk rock (Mensa Christi) that according to a tradition was the rock on which Jesus ate with his disciples after rising from the dead.

Mark 16: 14: "Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat...".