There’s Room at the Table for Everyone
Several years ago, while listening to NPR, I heard an interview with singer/songwriter, Carrie Newcomer. She has since become one of my favorite artists for her insightful words and music. https://www.carrienewcomer.com/
In addition, Carrie is working with Quaker theologian and Educator Parker Palmer for concerts and seminars as well as a monthly Podcast,The Growing Edge. https://www.newcomerpalmer.com/ Through music and interviews they are putting forth a much-needed hope-filled message for the times in which we are living.
We need to find ways to express our hopes and dreams in the midst of reality that things right now are far from perfect. One needs only to watch the nightly news to hear all that is going wrong in our communities, country and world. Fear seems to be the motivator that leads to the promotion of an anxious, paranoid and distrustful mentality for so many.
I’ve chosen to not watch so much “breaking news.” I am not on Facebook or other social media. I am choosing to tune into nature, conversations with friends, and listening to music that nurtures and moves the soul. That is not to say I do not keep up with what is happening in my community or the world. I simply choose not to be immersed in the negative energy that is constantly being repeated over and over.
In the midst of all that is, I chose to believe that there is a place and purpose for everyone. We first have to step out of our fear of “other”, fear of even ourselves. Open our hearts and minds and hands to reach out to learn from one another. Be vulnerable which can be a scary place for so many who have been taught to be tough and powerful to get ahead. We are, after all, beloved children of God, created in the image of God and hold within each one the incarnation of the Christ Spirit. That belief gives me hope that we can learn to tap into the energy of Christ to bring healing and transformation of ourselves and the world in which we live.
I close with the words for one of Newcomer’s songs.
Room at the Table
Let our hearts not be hardened
To those living in the margins,
There is room at the table for everyone.
This is where it all begins,
This is how we gather in,
There is room at the table for everyone.
Too long we’ve have wandered
Burdened and undone.
But there is room at the table for everyone.
Let us sing the new world in,
This is how is all begins,
There is room at the table for everyone.
Chorus
There is room for us all,
And no gift is too small,
There is room at the table for everyone.
There’s enough if we share,
Come on pull up a chair,
There room at the table for everyone.
No matter who you are,
No matter where you’re from,
There is room at the table for everyone.
Here and now we can be,
The beloved community,
There is room at the table for everyone.
Let our hearts not be harden,
To those living in the margins,
There is room at the table for everyone.
This is how we gather in,
There is room at the table for everyone.
Room at the table for everyone.
Room at the table for everyone.
Room at the table for everyone.
Words and Music by Carrie Newcomer ©2013 Carrie Newcomer Music (BMI), Administered by BMG Chrysalis
Blessings,
Donna
Rev. Dr. Donna Patterson serves as Anam Cara Chaplain in Residence for Scarritt Bennett Center and directs the Center’s Soul Work program.