Daily Meditation for May 1, 2024

Writer Diane Ackerman says, “I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” What things help define the “width” of life? A wise bit of advice given by a favorite professor is that if you don’t have friends who are older and some younger than you, a disabled person in your life, and someone of another race, you are impoverishing yourself. With a diverse group friends and acquaintances, you will find yourself exploring new things to do and different ways of thinking about things. So it broadens life to spend time with people who have different occupations, religions and ethnic backgrounds. We see the example of Jesus, who scandalized people, sometimes, because of his relationships with women, tax collectors and foreigners. He welcomed everyone.

By Mary Jackle, OSB