Welcoming Voices to the Table

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.

Reflect on the last time you found yourself lost in conversation. What was it about those moments that you found so memorable?

All God's children gonna sit together
Yes, all God's children gonna sit together one of these days
Hallelujah
All God's children gonna sit together
All God's children gonna sit together, one of these days
One of these days
- The Welcome Table, Southern Gospel Revival

And The Table Will Be Wide by Jan Richardson

And the table will be wide
And the welcome will be wide
And the arms will open wide to welcome us in
And our hearts will be open wide to receive


Food for Thought

One of my favorite books right now is “I Have an Idea” by Hervé Tullet. Funny thing is - it’s a children’s book. I received this book last year in a pandemic care package from my mom, and it has become a favorite go-to for our family. We read it almost every night, and every time I read it I grow to love it more.

“I Have an Idea” takes you on a journey of how an idea comes to be. Our ideas start as tiny seeds, but as you nurture and cultivate them, they can grow into something with the power to change the world.

My favorite line of the book is “with looking, comes finding,” the simple notion that if you are truly seeking a great idea, one can always be found.

Each time I read this book with my daughter, it inspires me to keep seeking and cultivating new ideas, and I can tell these affirming words are leaving an impression on her as well. Periodically, I’ll hear her quote them throughout the day, reminding me that my daughter is watching, listening, and formulating her own ideas both from the stories I tell and also from the stories happening, and shared by others, around her.

It was an idea - the idea that our lives are enhanced through the mutual sharing of life and story - that first brought us to The Welcome Table, and that continues to bring each one of us to this space.

Over the last several weeks, we have reflected together not only on the importance of this space, but on the ways we can create and continue to nurture similar opportunities for grace, conversation, and reflection within our own communities: recognizing within ourselves and others the belovedness that connects us more fully to each other and to God; practicing a radical vulnerability that allows us to be places of healing for one another; creating spaces where we find belonging, valuing our deep connectedness down to our very breath; and embodying the call to truly listen to the stories of one another in ways that can transform us and our world.

When we imagine and create welcoming spaces - where those around us are invited to be heard and to listen, to share and to be seen - we find ourselves welcomed together into new possibility.

Next week will mark our 50th entry since The Welcome Table began in November of 2020, and we have been honored to have over 750 readers - coming from different places and bringing a variety of experiences - to pull up a seat with us. We wanted to celebrate the occasion by launching our Welcoming Voices initiative. While we will continue to share our own TWT reflections, we are excited to welcome new voices to the table to offer their stories and experiences of welcome. Our hope is to broaden our communal dialogue in a way that allows us to be transformed by respectfully encountering the belovedness of another’s story.

That is what this is all about! We are thankful to have each of you with us around The Welcome Table. Your presence - your story - is a blessing.


How can you welcome voices to your table? What would it look like to start your own discussion group within your community? Try gathering in a park or a restaurant with outdoor seating if you or ones you love are wanting a distanced option.

Ice breakers are a great way to create opportunities for conversation with someone new and even with those you already know. You might even get a great story out of it.
Here are a few ideas.

Blessing

God of welcome and new possibility,
help us to open ourselves to the story and ideas of one another.
Help us to embrace the belovedness of those around us
in a way that leaves us and our world transformed.

A little Table Talk for your table...

  • Think of an idea that you have had recently. Discuss what led you to that idea. Was it sudden or was it something that evolved over time?

  • Share a time when someone’s story allowed you to experience the world with new perspective and possibility.

  • Talk together about what welcoming spaces look and feel like to you. What is one thing you can do to cultivate spaces of welcome for the world around you?

Try taking it to the Kids Table...

  • Read “I Have an Idea” by Hervé Tullet or watch a read through. Discuss with your kiddos the journey an idea takes before it comes to fruition.

  • Be creative! Come up with a new game or imagine a new story together.

  • Talk about what welcome means: what do you think of as welcoming? What makes you feel welcomed somewhere?

Kendall G