Strangers

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Sacred is just weird

call that power that creates, enlivens, heals, forgives and loves what you will

God, Love, something bigger than myself, the power that brings all into being

 

Sacred is just weird

for that which is the source of all true wealth (not the same as money)

and is power personified

calls us to a way of life few if any of us would choose

 

we are called to die

to self, to old ideas, to self-reliance

we are called to let go of possessions and help the poor

live sacrificially

love our enemies

pray for those who have hurt us

 

and welcome the stranger

 

of all the things we are asked to do

sometimes welcome seems the hardest

 

welcome the stranger

welcome, to put it another way, the one who is not like you

 

why is it so hard?

perhaps it is because those label those as strangers

those we think God doesn’t like

those who violate (in our minds) all that is Sacred

 

for some people those who are “in violation” are those

who are gay, or lesbian, or transgender

they are those deemed lazy, or opportunistic

they are people of other creeds, other colors, other languages

 

they are those who aren’t convenient

the immigrant

the poor

the addicted

the mentally ill

 

but for some of us (and this would be me)

the stranger is that person who embraces an ideology of power

or is too wealthy

or ignores climate change

 

the stranger is one who embraces a theology I consider destructive

and votes for politicians who (I think) abuse power and are greedy

 

we all have a stranger we struggle to welcome

 

but if I understand God’s love at all

(and I am not sure I can really “get it”)

no one is a “stranger” to God

 

in the Kingdom of God there are only children

loved, embraced

black children, white too

poor children, rich too

young, vibrant, strong children

twisted, humped, wrinkled children

liberal children, and conservative too (even beyond conservative)

 

I look around me and I see strangers

people who are alien to me

people whom I deem alien to God

 

but for God there are no strangers

only children

welcomed and loved

 

only children

drawn close

and in that closeness

finding the chance to be changed and healed