Draw the Circle Wide
By: Emily Monroe
“Draw the Circle. Draw the Circle Wide. No one stands alone. We’ll stand side by side. Draw the Circle. Draw the Circle Wide. Draw the Circle Wide. Draw it Wider Still. Let this be our song. No one stands alone. Standing side by side. Draw the Circle.” Draw the Circle Wide—-poem by Gordon Light
These words by Gordon Light invite us to broaden our circle of care and concern. If we imagine our relationships as a series of concentric circles, we usually place our concern for our own well-being at the center. In the next circle are our close family and friends. The next circle might include our work colleagues, church and neighborhood. In the outermost circles, we might put our city, country and all other human beings. Each of us has reasons to draw the circle of our attention narrower. It is not easy to bring more people into our circle of care because it means that we become vulnerable and risk heartache and disappointment. As the scripture teaches us in Ephesians 4:2-6, we are to “be completely humble and gentle, patient, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to one hope when you were called–one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one Father of all who is over all and through all in all.” God—in risk-taking vulnerable love— spread wide the circle of peace and salvation through the coming of Christ into the world. I am glad that you and I are included in God’s embrace.
Prayer:
May we all draw our circles wide.