Soul Matters Theme for July

Journey

Welcoming the Stranger

A child journeys far from home
Fearful and brave,
in need of safe harbor.
Guided by this chalice, may we seek to understand the causes of flight.
Like the comfort of a candle flickering in a window of darkness,
Let us welcome this child into our home with
warmth, nourishment, and love.
Would we not want the same for our own child,
lost and alone in a strange land?

Un niño viaja lejos de su casa
Temeroso y valiente
Careciendo de un puerto de asilo
Guiados por este cáliz, tratemos de comprender
las causes de huir
Como el consuelo de una vela encendida
en una ventana oscura
Demos bienvenida a este niño, a nuestra casa
con simpatia, alimento, y cariño
¿No quisieramos lo mismo por nuestro propio niño
perdido y solo en tierra extranjera?

Original version in English by Tracy Bleakney
Traducción en español por Theresa Soto

Tracy Bleakney is the Congregational Contact for Peace and Social Justice at the Buxmont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Warrington, PA.

The Rev. Theresa I. Soto is senior minister of First Unitarian Church of Oakland, California, and the author of Spilling the Light: Meditations on Hope and Resilience (Skinner House, 2019).