You’ve been the new kid in class. The new employee in the company. The new neighbor on the block. The new parent on the playground. The only one at the table who doesn’t get the inside joke.
You’ve been the stranger trying make some friends. The outsider trying to find a way inside. The lonely one trying to find your people. The sojourner trying to build a life in foreign territory.
Remember that feeling. Step back into that experience from time to time. Consider what might have been helpful to you. Give thanks for those who showed up in tangible ways during that uneasy transition.
Then, keep your eyes open for those who have newly arrived. Be kind and generous and helpful. Go out of your way to be warm. Certainly be careful to not make things harder for them.
However it is that some may have arrived in your community, welcome them as you would want to be welcomed.
Not because it’s easy. Not because it’s convenient. Not because you can meet all their needs. Not because you can be their everything. Not because of politics. Not because of economics.
But because you remember, in your own way, what it’s like to be the new kid in class.
(See Exodus 23:1-9.)