September 15-A, 2022

**Biedler Forest 11/22/1919 14 Oil Paint Rendered — Audubon Four Hole Swamp, Harleyville, South Carolina**

Where do you belong?
Whom do you belong with?
What do you belong to?

Where are you welcome just as you are--
without having to meet any entrance requirements?

It is our responsibility to become
a welcoming place.
It is our role to make people welcome
where we are.
To make people safe with us.
To be a refuge for those seeking shelter
from the hatred and anger
that is too much the trend these days.

We are the harbingers of peace and hope,
and make that known by extending grace
and compassion to all those who share our path,
for all will soon be members 
of "the huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

May we be the breath of fresh air they seek!

Published by jimwdollar

I'm retired, and still finding my way--but now, I don't have to pretend that I know what I'm doing. I retired after 40.5 years as a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, serving churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina. I graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Austin, Texas, and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. My wife, Judy, and I have three daughters and five granddaughters within about twenty minutes from where we live--and are enjoying our retirement as much as we have ever enjoyed anything. View more posts