“Who is missing?”
An empty chair at the table often calls attention to a late arrival or a ‘no show’. An empty chair at the table can be in the way or serve as a temporary shelf or be used by others gathered nearby or simply be a blank space.
An empty chair at the table can also function as a symbol waiting to bring to the table a reality otherwise overlooked or absent.
Many years ago, I began quietly testing the symbolic meaning/force of the empty chair often found at the tables –- tables for private or family gatherings as well as tables for professional gatherings -– at which I sit in conversation with others. How? By imagining who could be sitting in the empty chair. I then try to listen and speak at the table with them in mind.
Considered this way, an empty chair at the table brings to mind the many individuals -– some living, some deceased –- who have healed and enriched my life with their encouragement, their patience, their honesty, their counsel, their trust, their example. A spouse . . . a parent . . . a sibling . . . a grandparent . . . a teacher . . . a coach . . . a friend . . . a colleague . . . a caregiver . . . .
If we were to experiment a bit with speaking together as if one of the individuals who have given us so much and whose respect we cherish were sitting in the empty chair at the table, how would our table discourse be altered?
Considered this way, an empty chair at the table also brings to mind the many individuals – some near, many more at a distance -- whose life stories I know to be far more fragile than my own, whose life stories too often unfold only on the margins of my vision/attention. The barred . . . the badly treated . . . the disfigured . . . the powerless . . . the scoffed . . . the lonely . . . the forgotten . . . the ignored . . . the disgraced . . . .
If we were to experiment a bit with speaking together as if an individual for whom life is far more difficult than our own and toward whom we so easily show disrespect were sitting with us, how would our table discourse be altered?
Is it too much to suggest we try testing this empty chair symbolism at the tables where we sit together at work – at a cafeteria table? . . . at a conference table? . . . at a medical staff lounge table? . . . at a table for rounds? . . . at a break-room table? . . . at a café/restaurant table? . . . ?
Think about it. Perhaps talk to a coworker.
An empty chair at the table often calls attention to a late arrival or a ‘no show’. An empty chair at the table can be in the way or serve as a temporary shelf or be used by others gathered nearby or simply be a blank space.
An empty chair at the table can also function as a symbol waiting to bring to the table a reality otherwise overlooked or absent.
Many years ago, I began quietly testing the symbolic meaning/force of the empty chair often found at the tables –- tables for private or family gatherings as well as tables for professional gatherings -– at which I sit in conversation with others. How? By imagining who could be sitting in the empty chair. I then try to listen and speak at the table with them in mind.
Considered this way, an empty chair at the table brings to mind the many individuals -– some living, some deceased –- who have healed and enriched my life with their encouragement, their patience, their honesty, their counsel, their trust, their example. A spouse . . . a parent . . . a sibling . . . a grandparent . . . a teacher . . . a coach . . . a friend . . . a colleague . . . a caregiver . . . .
If we were to experiment a bit with speaking together as if one of the individuals who have given us so much and whose respect we cherish were sitting in the empty chair at the table, how would our table discourse be altered?
Considered this way, an empty chair at the table also brings to mind the many individuals – some near, many more at a distance -- whose life stories I know to be far more fragile than my own, whose life stories too often unfold only on the margins of my vision/attention. The barred . . . the badly treated . . . the disfigured . . . the powerless . . . the scoffed . . . the lonely . . . the forgotten . . . the ignored . . . the disgraced . . . .
If we were to experiment a bit with speaking together as if an individual for whom life is far more difficult than our own and toward whom we so easily show disrespect were sitting with us, how would our table discourse be altered?
Is it too much to suggest we try testing this empty chair symbolism at the tables where we sit together at work – at a cafeteria table? . . . at a conference table? . . . at a medical staff lounge table? . . . at a table for rounds? . . . at a break-room table? . . . at a café/restaurant table? . . . ?
Think about it. Perhaps talk to a coworker.
