This past weekend, my family and I went to a conference at Asilomar – a conference center in Pacific Grove near Monterey. It is a beautiful area right by the beach, and we got to spend a lot of time outside. What made my one year old son most excited, though, was not the pretty scenery, but the PEOPLE! He had a huge smile for every single person we met. It didn’t matter who it was – male, female, old, young, tall, short - everyone got a smile from Ben. Everyone was instantly his friend. He didn’t have to say anything – his smile said it all.
Watching Ben made me think about how we relate to each other. It is so easy to be a bit guarded and wary with those we don’t know. Will I like them? Will they like me? Do we have anything in common? Will we get along? What if, instead of worrying about all of those questions, we simply approached people with a huge smile? For that matter, what if we simply opened our authentic selves and lives to each other? We are all children of God – may we recognize how the Spirit connects us with bonds of love and grace.
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” Romans 8:14
