By Susan Wordal
I have a sorority sister who has gotten in the habit of posting on Facebook each day during November and marking the passage of “the month of thankfulness.” Some days the thoughts are short and pithy. Other days, they are full of interesting thoughts or contemplations. But this year, the “month of thankfulness” has been difficult to contemplate, let alone enjoy. There is a decided edge to things, or a decided loss of energy, depending on your perspective. And I’ve been wrestling with the need to give comfort as well as seek comfort, the need to bolster those who are down, along with the need to seek a new direction or perspective.
As our Stewardship campaign for Pilgrim winds its way along, I’m finding that the symbol of “The Crowded Table” is helping me to sort out some things. It serves to remind me that we share with many people from all walks of life. We weren’t all raised in Bozeman, or even Montana. We weren’t all raised in 2-parent, working-class families. We weren’t all raised as Congregationalists or even in the United Church of Christ. And yet, we bring to this space and this community joy and compassion, love and praise, strength and resilience in the things we do, together and separately.
Working for a governmental entity can be a daunting task. People don’t always like what the government is doing. Some find it intrusive or dictatorial. Some find it burdensome. Some would rather anyone else were running things. It doesn’t matter what level of government you work for, it’s true at every age and stage. And yet, despite the dislike and the complaining and the frustration and whatever else people are feeling that falls in the sphere of negativity that surrounds government, occasionally, some good shines through it. It reminds me why I first went to work for a governmental entity and why I seem drawn to continue to do the work I do.
In the next weeks and months and years, we, the people of Pilgrim Congregational UCC, will join our resources, our talents, and our lives in community. We will support the marginalized and disadvantaged. If not directly, then through our actions and our efforts in mission with others. We will work to remove the blinders from the eyes of those who cannot see that the labels some attempt to place on others have no relevance when you realize we are all Children of God. We will work to spread a message of love and hope even to those who would argue against us. We will join with others at a single table (or multiple tables in one room) to share a meal, celebrate a life, remember a strong human connection, and pass along a message of support and encouragement to go out in the world and do good things.
In the next weeks and months and years, We, The People will actually do the same sorts of things. We will find ways to heal the rifts of division which are more ideological and thus zealous rather than they are pragmatic and realistic. We will find areas of common ground, even if we have to scrabble backwards to even hope to move forward. We will engage, but not with weapons. We will engage with words. Words based in love and understanding. We will allow the meanness and the narcissism to roll off our backs while we watch instead for opportunities to bring kindness and welcome into the lives of others. We will NOT respond with the same level of vitriol as might be given, but will meet envy and scorn with love, and fear and disbelief with faith and hope. And hate will be met with love and kindness beyond measure. We will take breaks from the engagement to recharge and renew and replenish, looking to our friends and family to fill in our gaps. We will be vigilant in the face of dictatorial aggression and we will stand together and turn over the rocks and reveal the truth. Because the truth will set us free. Free to love and to worship and to serve as we choose and as God asked of us.
So, welcome to the Crowded Table. You are in good company. Your welcome at the Table does not have any other price than what you are willing to give. Do you have a particular talent? It might be of benefit to a program or an event here. Do you have a particular skill? We might just need that skill, or know someone who would benefit from it. Do you have some spare change you want to donate to the cause? We can surely find a use for that, too. We will find moments to clasp a hand, share a laugh, and sing a song. Some of the songs will be old and familiar, and others will be new and filled with something we need right now. They will raise the spirits and bring comfort, or they will empower and energize us with new light.
So, gather ‘round the Table and join in. As the song and the saying goes: “We Shall Overcome.” Let’s join together in one voice and make a new kind of “Joyful Noise”!