"Rest on the Flight into Egypt" Luc-Olivier Merson
"The
foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love
them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your
God."
Leviticus 19:34 (NIV)
The
Bible is a story about immigrants. From the time of his birth, Jesus and his
family experienced homelessness, with no room for them in the inn and
with their being forced to become refugees in Egypt. Their ancestors
Abraham and Sarah were likewise wandering Aramaens, strangers and
immigrants on earth, and their Abrahamic descendants were by turn exiles
in Egypt, Assyria and Babylon.
Except for native
Americans, we are a nation of recent immigrants, and in the case of
our local community, a wonderful mix of people representing dozens of
different nationalities, languages and cultures.
My
prayer on this Tenth Day of Christmas is that we become truly welcoming
toward all of our neighbors, inviting them into our homes and into our
friendships in the spirit of the text that says, "Do not neglect to show kindness to strangers; for in this way some, without knowing it, have had angels as their guests" (Hebrews 13:2 Weymouth).
I love this Celtic Blessing, referred to as the Irish Rune of Hospitality:
I saw a stranger yesterday;
I put food in the eating place, drink in the drinking place, music in the listening place, and in the name of the Triune he blessed myself and my house, my cattle and my dear ones, and the lark said in her song often, often, often, goes the Christ in the stranger's guise, often, often, often,
goes the Christ in the stranger's guise.
Here's a link to an earlier refection on "Christians Should Welcome Their Muslim Neighbors".
And here are some interesting numbers: |
Mennonite pastor and counselor Harvey Yoder blogs on faith, life, family, spirituality, relationships, values, peace and social justice. Views expressed here are his own.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
For The Tenth Day Of Christmas--Pray For Hospitality For The Stranger And Alien
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If people think that Social Security is a mess now, just wait and see how bad it would got if undocumented immigrants were deported. They pay in and will never collect. Tom The Backroads Traveller
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