Listen

Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord, I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.

Ephesians 4:1-3

Think

When I was in middle school, my best friend was a popular kid. He was always in the center of social situations. I often felt like I was looking in from the outside. Like a visitor at a zoo, I observed the behavior of my best friend and the other students at a distance with interest and a bit of confusion. Why did they do the things they did? It appeared simple for everyone. But it was not simple for me.

I have grown up since those days. I know better how to engage in social interactions. Yet, I have not changed all that much. People who know me would probably be shocked to learn that on the inside, I still feel like my middle school self. I often wonder if people see who I am and accept me for me. Perhaps the most comforting thing I have learned is this: God sees, accepts, and loves me for who I am, have always been, and will become.

Patrick Kangrga

Pray

God, thank you for seeing me. Thank you for accepting me. Most of all, thank you for loving me.

Please remind me of your presence when I feel alone, even when I am with people.

Help others to see, accept, and love me. And help me to see, accept, and love others.

Amen.

Go

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You’ll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend

from “For Good” in Wicked by Stephen Schwartz (2003)