For those on a deep spiritual journey…
Richard Rohr emphasizes the transformative power of being at “the bottom,” where privilege fades, and true purpose emerges. He writes:
“The bottom is where we have no privilege to prove or protect, but much to seek and become. Jesus called such people ‘blessed’ (Matt. 5:3). Dorothy Day said much the same: ‘The only way to live in any true security is to live so close to the bottom that when you fall you do not have far to drop, you do not have much to lose.’ [1] From that place, where few would choose to be, we can be used as instruments of transformation and liberation for the rest of the world.” [2]
This perspective resonates deeply with Casting Crowns’ song Nobody, which captures the beauty of being chosen despite feeling like an outcast or a “nobody.” The lyrics reflect the loneliness of the margins but also the joy of discovering divine purpose:
Why You ever chose me / Has always been a mystery / All my life I’ve been told I belong / At the end of the line / With all the other not-quites / With all the never-get-it Rights / But it turns out they’re the ones You were looking for / All this time
‘Cause I’m just a nobody / Trying to tell everybody / All about Somebody / Who saved my soul / Ever since You rescued me / You gave my heart a song to sing / I’m living for the world to see / Nobody but Jesus
The song celebrates how God often chooses the unlikely, like those who feel inadequate, like Moses with his stage fright, David with just a rock against a sword, or the twelve “outsiders” Jesus called as disciples. Even Winston, my humble, little donkey, plods along faithfully, far less glamorous than a horse, yet most people expect him to do more, as if his calm, steady presence isn’t enough. As the lyrics proclaim: “Everybody’s got a purpose.”
Rohr’s teachings and Nobody together remind us that the margins, though painful, are where transformation begins. When the world questions, “Who do you think you are?” we can boldly answer: a nobody, chosen to share the story of Somebody who changes everything.
[1] Dorothy Day, Loaves and Fishes (Orbis Books, 1997), 86.
[2] Adapted from Richard Rohr, Scripture as Liberation (Center for Action and Contemplation, 2002). Available at: https://store.cac.org/products/scripture-as-liberation-mp3
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