Extend the Circle

Roy Lloyd, a Lutheran minister, once interviewed Mother Teresa. He asked her, “What’s the biggest problem in the world today?” She answered without hesitation, “The biggest problem in the world today is that we draw the circle of our family too small. We need to draw it larger every day.”

What would it mean to draw the circle of your family bigger? 

In my own life, it is easy to include neighbors and friends, and even church members. It is harder to include people I disagree with politically or theologically. It is not easy to think about people on the other side of town or people who live in different countries. 

However, I know that when I pray for people who see things a little differently, and when I try to make the world a better place even for those who are foreign to me, my circle expands. I find a deeper sense of meaning, connection… and peace. 

Today, try to expand the circle of your family. Start small. Try to show an act of kindness to someone who may least deserve it or expect it.

Let us pray: Loving and Gracious God, we thank you for calling us your children. Thank you for including us in your family which stretches all the way around the world. Help us to extend the same love and grace to others that you have shown to us. In the act of extending our family, may the love we experience grow. Amen.