This live performance of If You Come Up Empty was recorded at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Edmond, Oklahoma, during a benefit concert on March 22, 2014.
If You Come Up Empty is an original song that appears on the CD, Give Us a Song. Although, Give Us a Song was released almost six years ago, If You Come Up Empty remains a favorite piece in my shows. Perhaps it connects with a fundamental desire that we have for a place to belong, a place to feel welcome even when all is not right with our world.
Being a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the image of the table as the place we are welcome unfolded naturally for me. The inspiration for the song came from a conversation with one of my cousins, who told one of their children: I don’t agree with the choices you’re making. I don’t think you’re making the best choices for your life, but know this. This is home, and if things don’t work out as you plan, you can always come back here.
As the song took shape, though, it took on the character of what the conversation between the father and son in the parable of the lost, or prodigal, son might have sounded like. When the son returns home, the instruction is to kill the fatted calf for a celebration. That son is welcomed back home at the table.