Day 4 — The Stranger
- Scripture: Leviticus 19:34: The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself…
- Reflection: Especially in current times, this statement reframes our perspectives. Who are the strangers in our world? Who are the aliens? What rhetoric has been used to ‘other’ the stronger, the alien, from the remainder of the population? Can you challenge those ideas, and find counter-arguments? How can we honor this concept, in these times?
Gratitude opens us to embrace others. Who are strangers whom we have welcomed in our own community? Who, each season, do we notice in our local environs? Who remains invisible?
When we know we have been welcomed, in turn, we extend welcome, inclusion, and the possibility of belonging to others. Our faith interprets gratitude from private feeling to public hospitality. - Practice: Practice one act of kindness toward a stranger (smile, tip generously, affirm someone’s dignity).
Song:
- “One Love” by Bob Marley and the Wailers: https://youtu.be/IN0KkGeEURw?si=Dv93U7iJ-geGvYVc
Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know. — attributed to Mitch Albom (and others)
You can’t change the world alone – you will need some help – and to truly get from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the good will of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide them. — William H. McRaven
The more I traveled the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends. — Shirley MacLaine
Nov 4 Daily Devotional