Category: Immigration

Blessed Are You…

11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  [1]

This past week, millions in our nation and worldwide witnessed the ceremonies and funeral of Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States. After lying in state in the nation’s capital, Carter’s funeral service took place at the Washington National Cathedral, the second-largest church building in the United States. Every pew in that capacious sanctuary, which seats 4,000 people, was filled.

Born and raised in Plains, Georgia, Carter came from unassuming roots, spending his childhood and teen years working on his father’s farm.  Yet he was an archetype of a statesman in countless other ways.  A man of unwavering faith, Carter was a conciliator of peace between Israel and Egypt, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, a champion of civil rights and the environment, a humanitarian dedicated to disease eradication and prevention, a promoter of democracy, a fervent supporter and volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, and founder of the Carter Center. 

Ironically, Carter weathered intense criticism during his lifetime, if not downright ridicule.     Scoffed at as naive, condemned as a failure as leader and President, and chided for seeking dialogue rather than resorting to war, Carter knew firsthand the scorn of public humiliation and contempt by others, particularly those involved in state affairs.   Brushed off as a mere ‘peanut farmer’ and dubbed a ‘weirdo’ when remaining true to his faith, Carter’s legacy was to continue living into the Gospel even when it was disadvantageous to do so. 

When we hear Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world,” we must remember that these verses were offered in the context of far more difficult ones.   These essential sentences undergird the price of being as salt and light.   ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Prayer: Divine Maker, in this time of gathering darkness, when your creation burns to the ground, and mass deportation looms; in this time of rising anxiety, when a convicted felon will assume the highest in the land, and children are callously sacrificed as the price of war, forgive us, we pray for forfeiting what you alone lovingly created and hence called good.    Kindle within us a renewing of your Spirit so that we may heed Christ’s summons once more.   So even when the good we do is misunderstood or ridiculed, remind us that as bearers of light and the salt of the earth, You have blessed us beyond measure in your realm of peace.  We ask this in all the holy names of God. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love Your Neighbor – Vote

“Voting is one of the most powerful tools we have as people of faith.” 

It is no accident that the Gospel’s directive to ‘Love Your Neighbor’ is frequently written off as mixing politics with religion.    But what if the teachings of Jesus, by addressing the necessity of compassion and care for the least of these, are not just political but profoundly so?  Indeed, if the definition of politics (from the Greek word, polis) asks, ‘How do we take care of each other,’ imagine if our sacred text is the most political of documents?

 Yes, we are overwhelmed by the number of consequential, if not existential, issues facing us. Be it climate change, poverty, hunger, healthcare, immigration, housing, or violence waged against the most vulnerable, we are in a state of polycrisis, as when multiple challenges are affecting our world simultaneously.  Yet what if politicians bankrolled by fossil fuel corporations and other big-money interests lost an election?  What if they were voted out of office by the very people adversely affected by their greed and complicity?  

Imagine if, all along, democracy has been the engine that has the means to change the levers of power. What if the unassuming, humble voting booth where ordinary citizens go to cast their vote is the basis for sacred ground? 

Prayer: Holy One, when tempted to relegate politics beyond the scope of what our faith requires of us, teach us to remember that the love of one’s neighbor requires otherwise.   Remind us that our actions, especially towards the least of these, were never intended to be separated from the faith we profess to hold.   In your mercy, restore us to your likeness, we pray.  Pour out your life-giving Spirit upon us so that we, as your people, will do whatever is necessary to protect and preserve your creation and all of humankind.   Let your grace dwell richly within us so that, as citizens and people of faith, our actions will testify to your all-encompassing love.   We ask this in all the holy names of God.  Amen.  

[1]  I am indebted to the Third Act’s panel discussion on the Sacred Right to Vote, held earlier this May.    In particular, those serving on the panel, Rev. Dr. Jim Antal, Rev. Carol Devine, Activist Mubarak Elamin, and Rabbi Stephanie Kolin, illuminated this urgent topic through a well-informed discussion on the intersection of voting and faith.   

Who were the first immigrants?

Recently, while visiting an art studio with portraits of First Americans, I came across this image. Hung just adjacent to the paintings, the photograph, and its caption abruptly brought the viewer into the furor of the present. With continued outrage from conservatives about immigrants stealing jobs and benefits from Americans, whether legal or illegal, it bears remembering who the first immigrants were to North America. Most were Europeans: be they from the Baltics or Spain, the Netherlands, France, Italy, or England.

So why the anger over current-day immigration? Since, apart from indigenous folk, the rest of us trace our lineage from other shores. Statistically speaking, and regarding the economy, are immigrants that much of a threat to the availability of jobs? Or is it only illegals that concern those vocally protesting their entry into these fair states?

Observes one essayist, “…undocumented workers often assume the unpleasant, back-breaking jobs that [the rest of us] aren’t willing to do.” [1] Found in meat-packing plants, along with gutting fish, laboring in the fields, assuming back-breaking work in construction, mowing and tending to America’s lawns and cleaning her houses, and while found babysitting the youngest of her children, do not their struggles implicate the rest of us? Reminding us that save for the First Americans of these lands, all of us, every single one, is an immigrant.

Prayer: Holy One, teach us to see your children, all your children, as moving towards being a part of the family of God. Compel us to acknowledge that save for the First Peoples of this land, every one of us is an immigrant. We ask that, in your mercy, you open our eyes to see the beauty and wonder of humankind’s rich diversity in all the peoples of the earth and the creatures whom we share it with. We ask this in all the holy names of God. Amen.

[1] https://www.brookings.edu/articles/do-immigrants-steal-jobs-from-american-workers/

[2]  Nor should we forget those brought here forcibly, beginning in the sixteenth century and going forward.    Slaves, however, were not immigrants.  Considered chattel and property, they had no rights whatsoever.https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/03/09/slaves-werent-immigrants-they-were-property/

[3] From Sojourner’s, The Theology of Migration, and as quoted from Immigration Advocate Karen Gonzales, “The story of the Bible isn’t just a story of moving from being lost to being saved, but it’s one of being a foreigner and moving toward being part of the family of God to belonging. And that’s a trajectory we can see throughout the scriptures from the very beginning when we meet Abraham — God is asking him to migrate, and we see he and Sarah’s vulnerability in Egypt. Over and over again the scripture restates some 83 times … that we’re to treat the immigrant as ourselves, we’re to love the immigrant as ourselves, we’re to do justice for the immigrant…”  https://sojo.net/media/theology-migration