There is a Place

I was thinking about one of my favorite pieces, "There Is A Place", from the recent Resounding Harmony concert. Here are some of the lyrics:

There is a place
Where you can always go,
Come with me.
Where it’s alright to let your feelings show,
Come with me.
What a pleasant journey,
Isn’t very far.
We can go together,
Stay right where you are.
And now it’s time to start.
It’s right here in your heart.

There is a place
Where you can be yourself,
Come with me.
And it’s a place
Where you can free yourself,
Come with me.
And you know it’s waiting,
Not so far away.
Need no reservations,
We could go today.
Now it’s time to start.
It’s right here in your heart.

There is a place where every sorrow ends
Come with me.
Where every hope and every truth begins.
What a pleasant journey,
We can go together,
Stay right where you are
Now it’s time to start.
It’s right here in your heart.

When I first read the lyrics, I thought they were too smalzy. But as we rehearsed, and I continued to hear the music and listen to the lyrics, I fell in love with it. And I also realized that Promise House is that Place for many, many teens who have lost all hope, who hide their feelings behind steel walls, who have never been able to tell someone the truth of their lives.

I especially love the part of the song that says, “We can go together. Stay right where you are”. How many times have we told street teens calling us late at night, “Stay right where you are. We are coming to get you.”

What a beacon of light we are to those teens. Promise House is a place they can always go--with no reservations. We are a place where it’s alright to show their feelings. Where they can be themselves and start to free themselves. A place where their truth can begin.

And we are always waiting, not so far away.