For a lot of us there are places we feel welcome, and then there are places where we feel unwelcome, in fact we feel as anxious as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. And if you are like me, those places can and have changed over the years.
The same goes for people. There are people who make you feel welcome no matter your background or circumstances. And yes, there are some people who can make people feel unwelcome even if their guests are the King and Queen of England. Welcoming people can change their stripes as well.
I suspect if we are honest with ourselves, we can see ourselves and our homes as both welcoming and unwelcoming. Its natural to gravitate toward people who make you feel comfortable, and vice-versa.
What’s amazing is God welcomes us all, and his places welcome us all. (I am not necessarily speaking about churches, synagogues, or mosques either. Some places of worship are like a comfortable pair of slightly worn socks, and some are colder than an meat locker). When I talk about God’s places I mean forests, beaches, and quite places in parks. There are also those rare places in one’s community where everyone feels welcome.
The meditation for today is to examine your book of welcome — Is it exclusive or open to all. Is the place where you worship welcoming — or exclusive, and I don’t mean just having greeters outside the door of the church, mosque, synagogue, or temple. Welcoming should never include judgment. If we are all equal in the sight of God, how can we claim to have better eyesight?
This week find someone to welcome. Make him/her comfortable for a while or merely a moment, and find a place where you feel welcome and ask yourself what is it about this place that makes me feel this way, and how do I take bring feeling of welcomeness into my own home.
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