Today, I was knee deep in tissue paper, unwrapping Christmas ornaments I had so carefully stored the previous Christmas season. I cherish the warm fuzzies I get from unwrapping each tissue cocooned ornament, systematically rediscovering the stories they evoke. One such storied ornament depicts children from all nations holding hands around the earth’s globe. It was gifted to me by a dear young family who we introduced to my homeland, Lebanon, through our church’s annual mission trip. They serve in a residential Home for abandoned, refugee, or homeless children. This precious family now claims Lebanon as home for themselves also. The ornament, a thank you gift, reminds me each year of the equalizing universality of God’s love for us all.
God’s enveloping message of love does not favor nations or individuals. It is not tribal. It is for the whole world. God intimately knows my inclinations and intricacies. He does not prefer me over another, one community of souls over another, one nation over another.
Am I guilty of thinking that my country, my nationality, my children are more beloved by God than another’s?
“Then he took a child, set him in front of them, and put his arm around him.”