Stewards of Our Relationship with One Another
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. – Luke 10:27
We belong to God; we belong to one another. In his book, Reaching Out, Henri Nouwen tells of a reunion with a former student, an experience that revealed to him the meaning of community: “It is the Christ in you, who recognizes the Christ in me… From now on, wherever you go, or wherever I go, all the ground between us will be holy ground.”
During February, let us walk on holy ground, practicing the radical hospitality Jesus modeled. Starting with our most personal and intimate relationships and moving through expanding circles – of friends, relations, church family, co-workers, and others with whom we come in contact – we tend to the quality of our interaction in these relationships using spiritual practices of forgiveness, reconciliation, justice, openness, honesty, hospitality, shaping communities. We widen our circle, reaching out to unknown neighbors through local and ecumenical service organizations and UCC programs and networks. We participate in the One Great Hour of Sharing special mission offering, typically promoted in churches during February and received the first Sunday in March. As centers of hope and transformation, local churches guide people onto holy ground.
A message from Stewards in the Household of God: a Resource for Holistic Year-round Stewardship available from United Church of Christ Resources.
February 2012 God is still speaking,
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