大象传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Bishop David Walker

Welcoming strangers

Good morning

A former bishop in my diocese once claimed that during the Middle Ages, when much of the structure of parishes was set up across the British Isles, the average person saw around four hundred human faces through the course of an entire life. I鈥檝e no idea where he got that figure from, or how accurate it may have been, but it serves as a reminder that for most of human history, few have travelled outside their country of birth. Humanity evolved to live in uniform and cohesive groups of no more than 200. Not surprisingly, it could be a claustrophobic, or even hostile, environment to outsiders, especially those who showed signs of obvious difference.

Against that background, I find it deeply encouraging that so many of the world鈥檚 major religions, including my own, place a premium on hospitality to strangers. The Hebrew scriptures locate this explicitly in the story of how their ancestors themselves had been refugees, fleeing famine to find succour in Egypt. They recognise the vulnerability of the stranger, and the duty of care that imposes on the community in which they find themselves. In this age of mass movement, when most of us will see millions of faces, I鈥檓 glad to witness that hospitality being carried out, as I travel the churches of my diocese, meeting the many refugees and migrants who have made their home among us and who add so richly to our common life.

So today, I pray. God of the stranger and traveller, help me to be a good friend and neighbour to those who have journeyed far to find and make a home among us, that together we may build communities of welcome and inclusion.

Amen.