Much of our lives is spent in keeping people out.
We have private houses, private clubs, and so on.
Of course there are times when we need to be alone.
Yet there is a sense in which our size as human beings
can be measured by the circles we draw to take other people in:
the smaller the circle, the smaller the person.
A strong person isn’t afraid of people who are different.
A wise person welcomes them.
By shutting other people out we deny ourselves
the riches of other people’s experience.
We starve our minds, and harden our hearts.
In the beginning God gave the earth its shape.
He made it round. He included everybody.
So should we.