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

The world is a large, diverse place filled with many different people who believe many different things. We are often told that the differences between people are insurmountable – we are just too different from each other, and we need to be on guard against the dangers of those who are not like us. Sometimes, we interact with people who are not like us by creating stereotypes and unfair judgements based on their culture. This can bring a lot of suffering to ourselves and to others.

The letter of Ephesians provides a different way to approach others. It tells us that we are called upon by God, the very same God who created all people, to accept each other with Love and to make every effort to preserve the peace that ties us together. In the moments when we feel that the person living on the other side of the tracks or the other side of the border is too different from us, remember the love and peace that binds us all together.

Jon Chacko

Pray

God, help me to realize that my way of seeing is not the only way to see. Help me to embrace and admire the diversity of this deep, complex, and beautiful world you have created, even when I do not understand it. Amen.

Go

We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

Richard Gillard in “The Servant Song” (1977)