麻豆约拍

Good morning.

In many ancient spiritual traditions there are certain virtues that act like great pillars on which the world is perched. Without them, the world would be imbalanced, or else topple over. One of those virtues was hospitality to the stranger. It鈥檚 common to almost all the great religious traditions as a virtue to be practised, and a source of blessing and enrichment.

A hundred years ago this week, the US government introduced a law that excluded what they described as 鈥渦ndesirable鈥� people from entry to the US. Something similar has happened again in recent days, but inevitably innocent, needy people are victims whilst a country seeks to keep its people safe.

There鈥檚 an old Celtic rune that says 鈥渙ften, often often, Christ comes in the stranger鈥檚 guise鈥�. Two of Jesus鈥檚 disciples offered hospitality to a stranger they met on the road to Emmaus. As they broke bread together, they realised they had meet the risen Jesus and their 鈥渉earts burned within them鈥�.

Hospitality to the stranger can be a source of miracle, wonder and blessing, and I often think that Scotland wouldn鈥檛 be Scotland without the Italians and the Irish and the Pakistanis, the Polish and the Spanish people who鈥檝e all made their home here. All human beings have been migrants at some point in our past.

Living Christ, you are on the loose, haunting the world, inhabiting places and people that might at first seem strange and unlikely. And yet, when we live hospitable lives and have open hearts, you will surely bless us. Help us to re-learn this ancient virtue in a world that sometimes feels too hectic and fearful. Amen.