Promise and Possibility
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Consider how the awkward and uncomfortable growth spurts of your youth were necessary to make you into who you are today.
“Forgive the past. It is over. Learn from it and let go. People are constantly changing and growing. Do not cling to a limited, disconnected, negative image of a person in the past. See that person now. Your relationship is always alive and changing.”
- Brian Weiss
It's been a long,
a long time coming,
but I know a change gon’ come,
Oh, yes it will.
- Sam Cooke, “A Change Is Gonna Come”
Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus…But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.
Food for Thought
Who likes growth? I know I don’t.
From time to time I find myself gazing in the mirror, observing the subtle and drastic changes from how I once appeared, to how I look right now (so far today I’ve noticed only two strands of gray and that my hairline is still relatively in place).
Not since childhood have I been excited about growth — back when I so badly wanted to be 6’4” so I could be taller than my parents. Then came the journey of sudden and awkward adolescent growth spurts. And even now, at times it seems my mind and spirit are suddenly being forced to shoot up 2…3…4 inches in one summer, which honestly feels just as awkward as those growth spurts of my teenage years.
How many people can relate to this?
Regardless of our stage in life, the growth process is always challenging, uncomfortable, disconcerting, and confusing. Undeniably, I am critical and curious about how my changes might be perceived by a world that has, at times, perpetuated narratives of fear and violence upon mature, black, male bodies like mine. Nevertheless, I continue in closing the gap between the versions of myself that were, that are, and that are yet to come — so I can live into the best version of who I am created to be.
For all growth’s inevitable pains, there is still something beautiful in the process of developing and becoming.
Theologians have a fancy way of articulating this concept as the “already/not yet.” The idea that we are already participating in the coming of God’s kingdom, while yet anticipating its fulfillment. Growth is an inherently divine process of being while still becoming. God invites us to mature, to grow into our best selves as blessings to our communities and the wider world.
We are witnessing this within our own nation as we navigate conversations and debates surrounding the right to bear arms, civil rights, gay rights, reproductive rights, and the imbalance of gender roles within our society and politics. How do we as a people avoid becoming stunted by ideas of decades past? How do we as a people hold what has already been in such a way that allows space for what is yet to be? How do we create space for others to inspire the world with new ideas, and toward renewed ways of being?
I am convinced there is something wonderful we offer the world when we are open to the challenge and discomfort of growth; this is how we best secure a brighter future personally and collectively.
Growth necessitates a degree of vulnerability to openly stumble through life’s uncertainties. In this season, I have experienced God growing me in ways I have only heard talked about in other people’s stories. My faith is being stretched. My hope is being matured. My trust is becoming more deeply rooted.
Growth is ultimately the catalyst that connects us all with a community of others who are going through their own bouts with growing pains. Through growth and change, we are unified in our solidarity. Together, we are offered the opportunity to commune at a welcome table of promise and possibility.
Make a list of all the ways you’ve changed in the past year alone — physically, spiritually, intellectually, etc.
The next time you try to learn or do something new, take note of the process — the awkward and frustrating phase you must go through in order to achieve proficiency and success.
Our Welcoming Growth Journaling Page offers seven daily prompts to guide you as you look for ways to cultivate growth within yourself and the world around you this week! Feel free to print the journaling page, forward it to a friend, use it as inspiration for your own journaling practice (or group conversations), or maybe just a food for thought in your quiet time.
We hope you enjoy our Welcoming Growth Journaling Page!
Blessing
Loving God,
Guide us as we navigate the moments of growth in our lives and in our world. Help us to shed former ways of being that no longer serve us, so that we can make room for the versions of ourselves for which we were created.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Take turns sharing how you feel about growth. Is it exciting to you, confusing, scary?
Discuss the concept of “already/not yet”, the idea that we are already participating in the coming of God’s kingdom, while yet anticipating its fulfillment.
How do you feel God growing you in this very moment?
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Share with your kiddo how you have seen changes in them over the past year. Have they changed physically or intellectually, have they made any new friends? How have they recognized change within themselves?
Talk to your child about growth — about how the process can sometimes be painful, frustrating, scary, or exciting, but also about the beauty that can come from it.
Next time you and your kid have a free afternoon, teach them something new — a new game or skill. When they get a good grasp on it, celebrate their achievement and the learning process they went through to acquire it.
Meet Our Welcoming Voice!
Rev. Darrell R. Hamilton, II is an ordained Baptist minister in Boston, MA. Darrell is impassioned by the way politics and faith merge together in the Christian theological traditions of justice and liberation. He believes that through the Christian values and ideals of diversity and inclusiveness, advocacy for the vulnerable and marginalized, the Christian tradition has within itself the means necessary to inspire our nation and world toward greater justice and love for all.
To hear more from Darrell throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!
Here are Five Things to Remember When Setting Your Own Welcome Table!
If you have a story that you would like to be included as a Reader's Write feature, we'd love to hear from you! Message us on our contact page or email us at thewelcometableco@gmail.com.