MEDITATION:
Written by Michael Hoy, a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from his book “The Healing Marks of Jesus.”
We do not generally lock doors to keep ourselves in but to keep others out. There are many in our world whom we have locked out because we find them unimportant, uninteresting, or offensive to us. We have preconceived notions that they are not to be trusted and convince ourselves so. All of this in the name of “being safe” – and who doesn’t want to be safe? But it is also a clever disguise and denial of our true feelings toward others. What we are unaware of in all of this is how much we have also become locked into just ourselves. Our hearts become hardened not only to others but also to God—whose creatures we and all others are. Brothers and sisters are crying for our help, but that thought never enters our mind as we turn the bolt. It would be damning were it not that all barriers—even the barriers of our isolated hearts—are not the final obstacle to our risen Lord. Watch for the Stranger!
PRAYER:
Written by Michael Hoy, author of today’s meditation.
Lord, we have denied all those who bear the scars of suffering and neglected humanity. Lead us to welcome the stranger in our midst. Amen.
MUSIC MEDITATION:
Poor Wayfaring Stranger: Performed by Narrow Way.
This American folk song, about a plaintive soul on the journey through life, likely originated in the early 19th century. Lyrics were published in 1858 in Joseph Bever’s Christian Songster, a collection of popular hymns and spiritual songs of the time. For several years after the Civil War, the lyrics were known as the “Libby Prison Hymn” because the words had been inscribed by a dying Union soldier incarcerated in the prison.
Pathways Press.com 
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