Sunday

Published on Sep 7, 2013

Shirley Erena Murray's text, "For Everyone Born," is a powerful hymn for human rights and justice. First published in 2008 by the Global Praise unit of the General Board of Global Ministries's text, "For Everyone Born," is a powerful hymn for human rights and justice. Murray presents the unconditional and challenging vision of God's shalom, especially as it addresses the worth of all persons.

Ms. Murray writes: I wrote this text in 1998, when I was involved with work for Amnesty International and because I couldn't find anything to reflect a broad overview of human rights in any hymnbook. You can see that I have used some of the very basic ideas of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- the right to shelter, safety, food, and later, the right to a job, to freedom of speech and worship. I've tried to put them in a context which relates directly to the Gospel, but without excluding those who are not of the Christian faith.... But in [a] more specific way, and to me an authentic one, it relates deeply and immediately to the manifesto of Jesus and all that he taught." What is this table? In my mind it began as the table of the world in the peaceable kingdom, an imaginary place of justice and joy where everyone gathers and is fed. But inevitably it was taken up as a communion hymn, in the context of the Holy Table.... And in places where exclusion by the Church is a source of injustice and pain, as with the gay and lesbian communities, it has been used to ask for a place at the table, along with every other believer."

In all the compelling and powerful ways this text "speaks" to us, it also triggers emotional reactions and can be difficult to sing. In particular, verse four sparked robust debate in the selection process. The file isthick with wide reviews from various sources and feedback from counselors, social workers, and pastors

over the tensions between seeing the ideal of Christ's teachings of reconciliation and wholeness and the realities of extreme sexual abuse and pastoral care. We are certainly challenged by this hymn to live into what the church claims to believe and called by the Creator to help bring into being. When asked whether Ms. Murray foresaw challenges for congregational singing, she responded: "... I wrote the 'tough' verse 4 because I knew, under the manifesto of Jesus, that even the worst abuse has to be dealt with and faced, and forgiveness requires singing about here. Of course, I have had much reaction to this -- personal stories of terrible pain and lifelong trauma from all kinds of abuse. Sometimes the verse is omitted... by insecure leaders of worship. This destroys the architecture of the text. Sometimes -- less often -- it is welcomed as exposing and recognising wounds that seem impossible to heal."

Then I found this which is needs to be shared...also

An omitted stanza, listed as “optional” in the original publication, confirms the radical hospitality that is proposed by the author:

For gay and for straight, a place at the table,
a covenant shared, a welcoming place,
a rainbow of race and gender and color,
for gay and for straight, the chalice of grace . . . *

The author states her theological premise in the introduction of the collection, A Place at the Table: "I have used the words of the hymn 'A Place at the Table' as title for this book, because there are still Christian people not welcome, either at the communion table or at the common table of society. . ..” .... This stanza, deleted from most hymnals, is a further demonstration of Ms. Murray's willingness to address the concerns of a contemporary audience. Here she challenges us to recognize the sacrament as a place of unconditional inclusivity.

According to the refrain, we understand the Christian’s role to play in offering “justice and joy” because paradoxically, “God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy.” In this way, the Creator expresses delight when humanity “creates” justice and joy. Not content to leave Christianity as a relic of the past, Murray’s hymn gives new voice to Christians crying out for God’s justice and joy as they enact God’s will “on earth as it is in heaven.”

  "Were I to be the founder of a new sect, I would call them Apiarians, and, after the example of the bee, advise them to extract the honey of every sect."  - Thomas Jefferson