About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals as well as reptiles and birds. (Acts 10:9-12)
A daughter always needs the comfort of her mother. I’m fortunate to have my mother’s prayer shawl. It connects me to Mom and God when I pray. Tallit is the Hebrew name for a prayer shawl which has fringes attached to each of its four corners. Just as Christians often kneel when we talk to God about important matters in our lives, Jewish people often wear a prayer shawl over their heads.
Tallit also means sheet. In Peter’s trance, a sheet, or more likely a prayer shawl held by its fringes to make a vessel for holding clean and unclean animals, was let down from heaven to earth. A prayer shawl represents our connection to God and others through prayer, and the clean and unclean animals represent Peter’s view of people, his prejudice.
God tells us through Peter’s dream that no one he created is unclean, not even the homeless man who has no place to shower. We are all God’s children, brothers and sisters; black and white; Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic, and Christian; rich, middle class, and poor; and LBGTQ and straight. We are to live peacefully together and help each other under God’s protection.
Father God, I praise You because You created all people equally. Help the world discover that no one is unclean, just unfortunate. Give me someone to help this week because I want to change the world one person at a time. I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
No matter how we classify ourselves, we are all God’s children. Part of our purpose is to care for others that need help because we all belong to God. We are all needy for something; love, shelter, a hot meal, a human kindness. I prefer to give where I know money will be best used. Yesterday, there was a man in a parking lot where I was doing errands. He had a sign that he needed help, I think the sign said something about travel money. He looked Hispanic and my first thought was, is he an illegal alien? Our world has made me callous because of evil people scamming the innocent. How do I know when it is the right time to help someone?
As you said, “We are all God’s children.” I’m pretty sure God doesn’t consider any of his children to be illegal aliens. I think that’s what you are saying. Yes, there are many scammers in the world, and it does make us callous. We always need to remember that our fight isn’t against people, it’s against the enemy. By the grace of God, we were brought up in a loving Christian family. Most of the scammers out there were not. Of course, we shouldn’t give money to scammers. If you say a quick prayer about giving money or a gift card to someone on the street, God will answer you. If you feel a warm fuzzy that’s the Holy Spirit telling you, “Yes.”
You are right, an illegal is still one of God’s children but they have done something wrong to be here and I will not contribute to that. What is happening to our country at the southern border is horrible and someone needs to take control and stop it. Scammers are the enemy. They do terrible things to people. They totally take advantage of old people who have lost their life savings to them. Yes, that has made me extremely cautious. I immediately have empathy and compassion for someone on the street BUT I don’t know if they will take money and do bad things with the money. So, I always feel that warm fussy because I feel sorry for them. I would take someone into McDonalds and buy them a meal or give them a gift card but I wouldn’t give cash.
Yes, I very rarely give cash either unless I have a strong feeling that I should. If I was born in Mexico, I’m pretty sure I would try to come to the United States and it’s much easier to get here illegally than legally, so I guess I would do something wrong too. Lol I always have to remember that our fight is against the enemy, not against flesh and blood. Love you, Sis, Blessings!