God said to Abraham, “Go from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” So Abraham went in search of this so- called land of milk and honey. And God said to Moses, “Bring my people out of Egypt.” And Moses at first resisted, but eventually led the people through the Red Sea to freedom. Migration of groups of people across the globe has been unfolding for thousands of years, maybe since the beginning of human history. So today when we read about the complex controversies swirling in the public dialogue related to migration from the south and from the east, we are not reading about a new challenge.
The question of how to co-exist haunted the folks in the Bible as well. Ancient Israelites wondered if they should intermarry and adopt the customs of the local inhabitants. And Jesus shocked the religious elites by reaching out to those everyone assumed were unholy: women, foreigners, those of ill repute.
Last night at Vacation Bible School the children were taught the meaning of the word refugee and what our church does to prepare homes for those arriving in Kansas City. The teacher used Lego blocks and toy figurines to explain the journey from war-torn nation, to tent city, to new homeland. Then the children sorted packets of children’s clothes for the refugees and drew handmade cards to welcome newly arrived refugees. Two of the children spontaneously walked over towards the packets of clothing and carefully tucked their hand drawn notes under the rubber band that held the packets of clothing together. And when the teacher left the room, one of the children went over and picked up the toy children and gently placed them inside the lego house, tucking them carefully into the beds.
God must have known what God was doing when God sent a child to lead us. For through the hearts of children, our hearts are made pliable again. And we are compelled to seek solutions for the common good that begin with the law of love.
Grace and peace,
Carla
