What The World Needs NowSample

“For those who've come across the seas / We've boundless plains to share"—two lines lifted from our national anthem. Maybe an anthem isn't meant to be a policy statement, but surely it's supposed to encourage each citizen to embrace a grand national vision of what the country could—and even should—be. This is an extremely complex issue, but one question gets to the heart of it: do we fail to live up to our rhetoric because we want to know who our neighbors are—that is, to whom we owe our compassion, generosity, and big-hearted assistance? If so, then perhaps we should heed Jesus' call to the expert in the law: worry less about who your neighbor is, and go be a neighbor to others.

What are ways—big and small—that you can be neighborly in your lives?

Our loving Father, transform our hearts so that we can be hospitable, generous, and compassionate to anyone in need, no matter who they are. You have been a neighbor to us, seeking our good even at great cost to Yourself. Help us to be neighborly to others near and far. Amen.