This evening we sang this beautiful hymn....

For everyone born, a place at the table,

For everyone born, clean water and bread,

A shelter, a space, a safe place for growing

For everyone born, a star overhead

And God will delight

When we are creators of justice and joy

Yes God will delight

When we are creators of justice,

Justice and joy.

For woman and man, a place at the table

Revising the roles, deciding the share,

With wisdom and grace dividing the power

For woman and man, a system that's fair...

For young and for old, a place at the table

A voice to be heard, a part in the song

The hands of a child in hands kind and wrinkled

For young and for old, the right to belong...

For just and unjust, a place at the table

Abuser, abused, with need to forgive

In anger, in hurt, a mindset of mercy

For just and unjust, a new way to live...

For everyone born, a place at the table

To live without fear, and simply to be

To work, to speak out, to witness and worship

For everyone born the right to be free...

Sheila Erena Murray (c) Hope Publishing

It's a beautiful hymn, and one that demands us to engage in some complicated thinking.  How do all these ideas, ideals even, really hold together in a world where sometimes we have to agree to disagree?  How can we live so that my 'rights' don't 'trump' yours or vice versa?  It isn't always easy.

I think the penultimate verse of the hymn captures something very special and profound, not least as all of us are, if we are honest, cast both in the roles of just and unjust, abused and abuser, yet there is for us, in our imperfection, a place at the table... and we must also make room for those with whom we disagree and maybe consider unjust and even abusive...