The Circle
Stop
Think of a time you experienced the pain of being excluded from a group or social circle. Maybe you felt your worth as a person was missed or discounted? What gifts might you offer to others if they would be more open to you? Now think of a time you have felt seen and included by others. How did that make you feel? In what ways have you included others? In what ways have you excluded others?
Listen
Reflect
I recently read Learning that Heals and Helps, a guide aimed at encouraging difficult but worthy discourse within the Christian community. It offered, “The people of God have never had all the answers to life’s questions, but we proceed in worshipful trust and obedience toward God, depending on each other for care and comfort as we interpret God’s will for us in the present situation.”
Sometimes the forces that keep us apart feel greater than the forces that bring us together. Even as members of one faith community, a sense of distance reinforced by skepticism and distrust can leave us feeling isolated and exhausted. Local pastor and poet Meta Herrick Carlson writes,
This minimal coexistence is physically exhausting
because it is unnatural
to barely put up with one another,
to withhold care and curiosity,
to feign an unrelated distance when someone is hurting.
It requires a terrible kind of energy
to merely deal with someone,
to restrain your true self in their presence,
to manifest another narrative
about who they are that validates separation.
We are not built for mere tolerance
skepticism
fear
hate
disgust
indifference.
We are built for proximity in body and spirit,
to delight in God’s manifold image,
decorating each person with love that is natural
to honor, affirm, and celebrate.
Ephesians 2:14 reminds us that Jesus is our peace. Through Him we all have access in one Spirit to the Father. We are not on separate sides, but members of the household of God. Each of us has a place in Christ’s beloved community complete with unique journeys, authentic stories to tell, and contributions to offer.
This is a call to invite others in and to dare to bridge the distance. It’s a plea to return to Christ’s beloved community; an appeal to challenge ourselves to make the circle wider. To care for one another. To share grace. To build relationships. To experiment with new ways of engaging in difficult conversations. To seek understanding and resist the temptation to feign distance or create a narrative that validates separation. We have the perfect example in Jesus, who draws close and dismantles walls of division to honor, affirm, and celebrate each of us. In Him, we are built together.
Pray
Prayer for the human family (ELW, p. 79)
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son. Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred that infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and, through our struggle and confusion, work to accomplish your purposes on earth; so that, in your good time, every people and nation may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
A prayer attributed to Francis of Assisi (ELW p. 87)
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Carry On
Take time to invite someone in this week. Share grace. Seek understanding. Build or repair a fractured relationship. The grace of God provides our belonging and our strength to meet the challenges of a sometimes frightening and divisive world. We are called to reach out and draw close with care and curiosity.