IN Unitarian services, we not only have readings from the Bible and texts from other faiths, but often writings from modern sources.

The other day, I was very struck by hearing an extract from a book called Falling from the Sky: A Meditation Anthology, by Rod Richards, called God Has No Borders.

It reminded me of observations by astronauts in the International Space Station who, looking down on the slowly rotating Earth beneath them, had very similar thoughts.

These were, and I quote from the reading: “We humans are the line drawers, we are the border makers. We are the boundary testers. We are the census-takers. We draw a line to separate this from that, so that we can see clearly what each is.

We create a border to define our place, so that we can take care of what’s there. We congregate within those boundaries in families and tribes and cities and countries that we call us. And we call people on the other side them.”

The writer then points out: “The rain, the sunshine, the breeze, the life-giving air we breathe ­— they know no boundaries. Neither do our empathy, our good will, our concern for one another. God has no borders. Love has no borders.”

We are hearing of terrible violence on our streets ­— even in Altrincham ­— and the rise of nationalism all over the world.

It is therefore timely to remind ourselves that we are all part of one human family and that borders that separate us are only man-made.

As Rod Richards says: “Human kinship does not end at any border. A wise part of us knows that the other is us, and we them.”

Carolyn Jones

Honourary Secretary

Altrincham Interfaith Group

Member of Dunham Road Unitarian Chapel