circles

Saturday October 5^th, Luke 16:  27 "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'  29 "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'  30 " 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'   31 "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "  The unnamed rich man still gets it wrong, he does not have five brothers.  Jesus redefined family not as flesh and blood, but rather as caring communities who reach out to those who are the least, the lost and the lonely.  Our calling is not so much to surround ourselves with those who are like us, but rather to work at liking those who surround us in ever widening circles.