Several years ago I accompanied a local pastor visiting parishioners in a rain forest in Costa Rica. The wilderness was beautiful and I felt I had stepped into the pages of a National Geographic magazine. We walked along the railroad -- the only apparent passage through the forest -- stopping occasionally to visit with folks who lived in the small homes perched on the bank above the tracks. I recall hearing the rhythmic whack of an ax some distance away. When we rounded a bend, there was a home high up the hill, and a large, muscular man swinging a machete, cutting firewood. My friend called to him and he beckoned us up the slope. When we drew near, he shook the minister's hand, then looked appraisingly at me. My friend told the man my name, and his face creased in a bright grin as he took my hand and said, "No longer strangers!"
His comment made me feel welcome and we continued a jovial visit for some time. I recalled a scripture text in the Letter to the Ephesians: "So then you are no longer strangers, but you are fellow citizens with the saints..." I have a feeling this text was the basis of my new friend's welcome. We were no longer strangers because we shared the same faith in Christ.
It made me wonder, too, how open I am to strangers. Jesus once said, "I was a stranger and you took me in." There's a sense in which the disciple is one who is willing to risk relating to a stranger to share the grace of God.
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