From “On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old” by Parker J. Palmer
As you welcome whatever you find alien within yourself, extend that same welcome to whatever you find alien in the outer world. I don’t know any virtue more important these days than hospitality to the stranger, to those we perceive as “other” than us.
The old majority in this society – people who look like me – is on its way out. By 2045, the majority of Americans will be people of color. Many in the old majority fear that fact – and their fear, shamelessly manipulated by too many political misleaders, is bringing us down.
The renewal this nation needs will not come from people who are afraid of “otherness” in race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. Because of that fear, our once-vital society is gridlocked and stagnant, if not actively regressing. Our main hope for renewal is diversity welcomed and embraced.