Monday July 15, 2024

Matthew 10:34-11:1

Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me.

Karibu!!! That’s a word you will hear a lot in Zambia and East Africa. Karibu is not only a word, it is a disposition of the Eastern and Southern Africans. It means WELCOME. Really each nation has its own ‘disposition’ to this spirit of welcome. In America it is the hug! In the Near East, I think it’s the word Shalom or Salamu Alaykum. You too have your own special way of showing God’s generous love.

Many years ago when I was a wee little boy growing up in Africa, we were always taught to be kind to the stranger, to offer them water or wash their hands. We did that with a certain faith that the Gods live among us. To this day I hold that belief. However I have become a little more cautious. Life has happened between then and now and something has been lost. Today’s readings remind me to pray for the gift of welcome especially the welcome of people who do not believe the same things i believe. This spirit of unwelcome of other people and ideas is going to be the death of us.

Someone told me years ago that “if your God loves all the people you love and hate all the people you hate, then you have created a God in your image and likeness.”

Welcome the other and make some room in your heart. This is the toughest thing you may be asked to do but you have shown that you can do difficult things.

Lots of love

Me