Many churches in the United States celebrate the Feast of St Francis of Assisi on October 4 each year. The feast commemorates the life of St Francis, who was born in the 12th century and is the Catholic Church’s patron saint of animals and the environment. It is a popular day for pets to be “blessed”.
Source: Feast of St Francis of Assisi in United States
We are taking our dog to be blessed at the church we are visiting. Pictures to come.
When you visit a house you might find a welcome mat, something to let you a visitor know that you are a guest, valued and people are happy to see you. I think organizations should practice a spirit of hospitality to strangers who find their way to their doors. Having been a church member all my life its especially important for a house of worship to be welcoming and happy to see new people who walk across the welcome mat. Who knows, they might come back and could be a regular visitor who could become a member that will make important contributions to the community or organization. Now not everyone is going to be a repeat customer or visitor but its good to be friendly to everyone.
Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guests, without even knowing it…Hebrews 13:2
Now on my blog I make it a practice to be welcoming to everyone. It’s just how I roll. Now it doesn’t mean someone can come in and be unkind. Being kind is a practice that is often hard to do but it is worth it. Hospitality is a concept and its something that is practical. Welcoming a stranger is important because they might be someone valuable who could help your life and yes as Hebrews says you might be welcoming an angel. So as the movie “Beauty and the Beast” once said “Be Our Guest” and everyone should be welcomed in any place in this life.
It really doesn’t take a lot of effort to be nice, kind, friendly. Reaching out to new people is in all of life will help you in life be more social and that will benefit you in so many ways. A smile, a handshake or perhaps a hug will connect you to someone who might make your life better.
I think believers of all faiths should be the vanguards of hope in the world. Sometimes we let the bad stuff of the world get to us and we reflect that in our attitudes about things. We are urging on the end of days when we should be urging people to find their way into a relationship with a higher power that will change them so they can change the world for the better. I certainly think believers need to smile more.
If you want to display something like the 10 Commandments in public, study them, live them, make them manifest physically. If you want prayer in schools, just pray anytime when others aren’t looking. If you want your faith to matter in the world make it worth believing. If you want people to embrace your faith share it in practical, meaningful, simple ways that will bring people to the table. If you want there to be more love in the world do it like Jesus, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr and Pope John Paul II did. Remember the greatest thing you can do is to love and love fiercely.
I have thought the problem with the church universal is that people know what it’s against versus what it’s for. There is the problem a lack of grace and love among its believers. There is also a problem with some seeing people as sinful before getting to know them. I know many gay and lesbians who are some of the best people of faith who have a calling on their lives too. One man I know is one of the best scholars on scripture I know.
There is also the problem with many in the church thinking they are above sin and can cast judgement on the lives of others and they see no speck in their eyes. I personally think the church needs to figure out inclusion because the LGBTQ community isn’t going away and the church could be stronger with some diversity. I am of the opinion that everyone is imperfect and there are loads of people who aren’t doing what they need to do to live with others in a faithful community. Jesus prime directive was to love one another as I loved you.
In many of my posts I choose to use the term “Higher Power”. This is not to deny my own faith but to acknowledge the faith of others.
Faith and spirituality are deeply personal things and as a blogger and social media commentator I think it’s a more inclusive language. Some of my fellow Christians would blast me for using such a term and wondering why not use the word “God” (which I do) and my previous posts show that. I just think there are several world religions with their own deity and their own traditions and customs. I believe in sharing the love of Jesus Christ in different ways but I know that there is a Buddha too among other gods and goddesses from other faith systems. I am interested in building bridges of understanding and encouraging all people to find a system of belief that offers them connection, community and comfort.
Yes I know there are some folks out there who don’t believe in anything or have their doubts and to my atheist and agnostic friends I hope you have people in your life to share the journey with. To me that is important for anyone, no matter what they believe or choose to not believe.
I am commanded by my faith to love my neighbor as myself so perhaps starting with that is a great way to have dialogue and fellowship with people who are different from me.
In future posts I hope to expand on this. But for now may you all have grace, peace and much love.
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