Common Ground - Song 1 ‘ A Touching Place’
Words: John Bell & Graham Maule.
https://www.christiansong-lyrics.com/a-touching-place-lyrics-catholic-gospel-hymn/
Tune : ‘Dream Angus’ (traditional) © Wild Goose / Iona Community
YouTube recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK_SY1rZ1M0

Is it just coincidence, I wonder, that when I watched a certain YouTube video of this song (not the one linked above), the advert that preceded it was to raise money for the victims of genocide in Gaza? For when I sang it myself first, it was those Palestinians who were on my heart as much as anyone. This song is a lament for people suffering in myriad ways: unemployed, confused, rejected, bereaved, victims of war and rape. And also for those who ‘cry in pain or disgrace’ and those who are ‘conscious of sin, [who] long to be pure but fear to begin’.

Christ came for us all, but particularly for those he called ‘lost sheep’. For people who for whatever reason have not ‘succeeded’ in the world’s eyes, who are not ‘adequate’ by some human standard, who have ‘lost’ or even ‘given up’ in the struggles of daily life.

There is no shortage of such people in our world today, and not only in war zones. The volunteers at our Trussell foodbanks meet them daily: people whose circumstances have, for many reasons, left them with no money for food. People who may well feel, in John Bell’s words, ‘by life confused, riddled with doubt, in loving abused’. What we offer them is not just food, but a warm welcome and hospitality, a place to sit and talk, and cry if they need to (we always have tissues handy). We want to replace a sense of hopelessness with an assurance that they matter to us. And, if they wish to hear it, that they matter to Christ.

For that is the point of the song, as expressed in the chorus: Christ shows his face to the lost and unloved, but – and these are perhaps the most important words of the song – with his friends. For his friends – Christians – are all called to share in that work of recognising God’s image most clearly in the people most in need of love. It is a call to the Church, but also to the individual. Which is why, although there are many recording online sung by choirs, I have chosen a solo recital. One person’s declaration that he wants to be that ‘touching place’ for others. A place where perhaps they can feel the literal touch of a welcoming handshake or friendly embrace, and feel touched in their heart by the Christ, whose friends we are.