蜜芽传媒

Good morning.

I was recently invited to a Bring and Share picnic in Cardiff鈥檚 Roath Park on an exceptionally hot Sunday afternoon, after a morning spent preaching about the good Samaritan in church. Thirty or forty people gathered in the shade of the park鈥檚 beautiful acer trees, and I made sure I was sitting near a Sikh couple who had brought delicious pakora and samosas to share. Delicious. As we chatted food was passed around including toffees from Salt Lake City, brought by a family from the church of Latter Day Saints, aka the Mormons. I declined on account of a fear of any unwanted filling extraction but I was left with a sense of my own limited vision when it comes to diversity and who I am prepared to take seriously or otherwise in terms of faith communities and their respective beliefs. For no good reason I found myself judging my brothers and sisters from the church of Latter Day Saints more because of their beliefs, whereas I was curious and open-minded about learning from a faith tradition wholly different from my own from the Sikhs. I realised later that that was exactly why Jesus answered the question who is my neighbour with the parable of the good Samaritan, a tribe with whom we learn the Jewish people were at loggerheads, and regarded as heretics. It took a shared meal to help me see my own bias and unconscious prejudices. It was a picnic which really provided food for thought as well as for bodily sustenance.

God of many names, friend of all, thank you for all who help us see the breadth of your love. Open our hearts to receive your hospitality. Make us always willing to receive from others.

Amen