Let us take a moment and think about family. First and foremost, the family is universal. Regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality and religion we are all members of families.
Secondly, the family represents the most intimate of human relationships. We use familial terms to describe the closeness of any relationship saying, “that person is like my father, like my mother, my brother, my sister, my son and like my daughter.”
Most importantly, the family is the school of love. We love our family in order to learn to love humanity in its richness and diversity.
Before we call ourselves Buddhist, Christian or Confucian, or see ourselves as black, white, yellow, Korean, American or Japanese, we are first and foremost the sons and daughters of God, and members of His eternal family.