We All Sup Sorrow with the Poor

We All Sup Sorrow with the Poor

At 8:46 a.m. today, following my morning prayers, I rushed downstairs to turn on the television.  I felt the need to “gather” with our nation to honor those who died in the September 11, 2001 attacks on America.  I needed that “moment of silence” that transcended geography and time to remember a tragedy we shared as a country.

I noticed that the music being played following the moment of silence was one of my favorite songs, *Hard Times Come Again No More.  I started wondering about the song and found this little note on a website:

“This song was written by Stephen Foster and published in 1854. In the mid 1850's, Pittsburgh was in the grip of out of control unemployment and disease; cholera one summer killed 400 people. To help ends meet, the Foster family took into their already crowded home a minister.

Out of the blue and if only briefly, Foster saw poor people as his neighbors. Suddenly, their "pleading looks" created a demand for his attention. Their "frail forms fainting at the door" called for companionship — "while we all sup sorrow with the poor."

It was an interesting choice of music albeit performed instrumentally. (You can hear it sung and watch a moving video that reflects poverty here.) 

What always catches my attention in this song is the line, “While we all sup sorrow with the poor.”  What does it mean to “sup sorrow?”  To me it always sounds like we are eating with the poor, because of the word "sup."

I have read it more accurately described as meaning to live on sorrow as sustenance, to “supper on sorrow.”

On a day of remembrance such as today, the title of the song (Hard Times Come Again No More) becomes a prayerful plea, doesn’t it?  What I am noticing is that this is a song that is relevant, time and time again.

 “Let us pause in life’s pleasures and count its many tears,” says the first line.

Indeed, life is a balance of joy and sorrow, something we all encounter and can go through together, if we take time to notice each other.  There is much to be said about accompanying each other on this journey.

Let us remember this day, together, when time stood still and we breathed as one.

God bless,

Janet Cassidy

Janetcassidy.com