In an upstairs room, a parable Is just about to come alive And while they bicker about who's best With a painful glance, He'll silently rise
Their Savior Servant must show them how Through the will of the water And the tenderness of the towel
And the call is to community The impoverished power that sets the soul free In humility, to take the vow That day after day we must take up the basin and the towel
In any ordinary place On any ordinary day The parable can live again When one will kneel and one will yield
Our Saviour Servant must show us how Through the will of the water And the tenderness of the towel
The space between ourselves sometimes Is more than the distance between the stars By the fragile bridge of the Servant's bow We take up the basin and the towel
And the call is to community The impoverished power that sets the soul free In humility, to take the vow That day after day we must take up the basin
And the call is to community The impoverished power that sets the soul free In humility, to take the vow That day after day we must take up the basin That day after day we must take up the basin That day after day we must take up the basin and the towel Take up the basin and the towel, basin and towel