History of Construction And Thoughts of the Designer, John Gascho
When Hospital Chaplin, Reverend Randall Trego called requesting that we consider building a new communion table for the chapel at St. Luke’s, I responded by asking for an appointment to visit with him in the chapel to learn of it’s architectural character and to learn of the story associated with this chapel.
I visited the chapel and learned that it is basically a square room. Gentle curves and arches have been incorporated into the design to create a soft and warm environment. In addition, the other most loved decorative details added to this chapel have a very elegant rustic quality about them.
Reverend Trego then shared with me details of how this room is most often used. We talked together about the people who come here to find comfort in times of trouble. He then shared with me some of the writings of those who have used this chapel in the past. A small book of these thoughts and prayers became available to take with me to read in my quiet time. I read these thoughts and prayers, meditated on these along with the information I had learned about the room and began to sketch ideas on paper.
The thoughts and prayers that I read included a new daddy giving great thanks to his Heavenly Father for the safe arrival of his healthy new little child. Then there was the granddaughter of an elderly grandma who was very sick. The granddaughter was intensely seeking God’s grace and mercy to give a bit more time on earth to Grandma so she could continue to enjoy their relationship.
From all of this information, I was inspired to create a design that would speak to persons viewing the table of God’s grace and mercy and His love for those who seek Him. In addition, I wanted to provide hope to those using this chapel who are hurting and feeling despair. To accomplish these goals, I started by thinking about the type of wood selected to build this table. Two woods came to my mind, Mesquite, a wood that grows here in Texas and mostly thought of as useless – good only for burning and considered to be a weed by most.
The true beauty of Mesquite is hidden below its ugly bark and only viewed by those who take the time to uncover its beauty. The second wood was Long Leaf Pine – a Texas wood that is no longer readily available because of uncontrolled harvesting and use many years ago. This wood was used for common mass construction projects such as stadiums and large buildings such as cotton gins. It was common wood, not thought good enough for fine furniture.
These thoughts and ideas have resulted in the initial design of this table shown in the following picture.
Charles Mayfield was the wood worker I selected to craft this table. He started his work by removing the bark from the Mesquite crotch. Notice that it broke apart while working on it, symbolizing some of the brokenness of those who have and will continue to use this chapel.
The Long Leaf Pine used to build this table was salvaged a number of years ago from a cotton gin that had been located in Gainesville, Texas.
Here you can see it required faith on the part of men doing the salvage work to trust that something beautiful would be found below the years of dust, dirt, and decay which covered the outside of each of the boards. They have been cleaned and shaped for use in this table.
The “barrel” design of the undercarriage, pedestal base as well as the front of the table top are reminiscent of historic water tanks here in Texas. Here, they represent God’s provision and His ability to meet our every need as we trust Him for the impossible.
Note the “book matching” of the wood on the top of the table. Right and left sides are a mirror image of each other. This is a symbol of God’s hands of mercy reaching out equally to all who come to seek his help.
The cross inlayed in the top of the table has been created by using a combination of Mesquite and Long Leaf Pine can also be found on the cupola of the outside of the chapel.