A Place at the Table

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:5-7

Our future daughter in law graduated from seminary at TCU on Mother’s Day weekend. There was a beautiful hooding ceremony for the seminary graduates for doctoral degrees and master’s degrees. The scripture and hymns selected for the service were thoughtful and meaningful and the sermon was about letting go of our prejudices and accepting everyone as a child of God. It was awe inspiring to see these graduates of all ages and races, from multiple countries and backgrounds gathering together to celebrate their training to spread the word of God, to study and interpret the Bible and to serve as religious counselors. 

Before the sermon, those present sang the hymn “A Place at the Table”.  I don’t remember having heard it before but the melody was very familiar.  The lyrics to the hymn can be found here  https://www.hopepublishing.com/find-hymns-hw/hw342.aspx#FullDescription (you will have to click “read more” to see all the verses). Brite Seminary at TCU is very progressive. In the 1950s and 1960s they focused on civil rights. They had a strong voice during the Women’s movement in the 1960s. During the last 20 years seminary students and professors have continued to advocate for women’s rights, an end to racism, recognition of ageism, and protecting the rights of all, regardless of sexual preference. Most interesting to me was the identification in our current climate of not only homophobia but also heterophobia, and the ways that it is further separating people.    

I have thought about that sermon the last two days and have wondered about how we came to hate and fear for so many reasons. It would seem that in the last 70 years instead of advancing past our differences, and accepting people regardless of things like, sex, age, race, sexual preference, that we have desired instead to call out what makes us special and different and have used that to further isolate ourselves from others. One of my favorite quotes from Margaret Mead is “You are absolutely unique, just like everyone else”. Be unique, let people like or alternately dislike you because of your personality, or your ideas, but not for your demographics.

Prayer: God who made us all in his image, help to erase the lines that divide us. Continue to be with these new seminary graduates as they work to influence the world to accept one another.    

Christi Moock