Expanding the Loop (01/26/2024)

I’m a lifelong import. I was born in Sioux City, Iowa but my family moved to Texas when I was a toddler. From Texas, the family moved on to Georgia where I grew up understanding that “not from here” was not a praise of one’s exotic nature but rather a term of exclusion. From Georgia, our family returned to Iowa when I was a junior. My married life has seen more moves than a teenager has excuses.

So, I’ve resolved myself to being an outsider, but I choose to call myself “an import.” It makes it sound like I am an intentional presence. In the LORD’s divine design, I believe I am. But in the grand scheme of things, one of the most difficult parts of being “an import” is that there are loops in every community through which important information is relayed. And I am rarely in the loop.

But there has been a breakthrough. There is a dear woman whom I consider a friend who knows that I care about others, especially those in our faith community. And she will message me or e-mail me with news she thinks I would want to know. I give thanks for her every time she does this. It gives me the opportunity to support another with prayer and with deeds, if possible. She has expanded the loop to include me.

Are there individuals in our midst who are outside “the loop”? What does our not communicating with them mean? What goodness is being short-circuited by our exclusions? As we look around at our world, is it time to open the circled wagons and make room for others? What would Jesus want us to do?

Information, not to be confused with gossip, is valuable. And communicating to others what they need to know to be part of a community is one of our greatest responsibilities as disciples. There is no place for exclusions in the life of a disciple. What do we know that others would benefit from knowing? What do we know that sharing with others would make their journey richer?

I know that the LORD loves each and every one of us. I can’t tell you how many times simply sharing that with another has made a difference. I know that there is goodness in every member of our community; telling others that I’ve noticed the good they are doing and the good they bring to us all is important information that needs to be shared, not kept as a secret. And I know that bringing another’s need to prayer is an action most every one of us on the Way desire to do, but we need to be in the loop to know of the need.

May this week, during the annual January thaw, thaw our barriers to more expansive community and more loving relationships with all within our community.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.