The “Holy Days” of March are behind us.
Hopefully, many have a renewed Faith, but also a commitment to act upon their faith within their daily lives. As I was preparing the Easter sermon, I was listening to the radio. The reporter shared that a politician had made some very disturbing remarks about illegal aliens and immigration. I wasn’t all that shocked by the comments. I was deeply saddened that it appears that all too many prejudices, hatreds, and arrogance are still alive and well in all too many citizens of our nation.
These are the same people who claim to “Love The Lord” as they celebrate Easter Sunday with the rest of Christendom. As I am a strong supporter of the notion of saying what you mean and meaning what you say…It disturbs me that there can be such a huge disconnect in our national culture. I ask myself, just when did we give ourselves permission to be so hostile and, as such, so divisive?
How do we simply ignore the teachings of Jesus, Buddha, etc., as well as the teachings of great Humanist progressive thinkers. Have we learned nothing from history, that this kind of reasoning never ends well?
My parents escaped Nazi oppression. I have known many immigrants who came to our nation seeking safety, freedom from want, religious freedom, political freedom, just to name a few reasons. I think it is time for our political leaders to finally recognize that we need to remember and reconnect to the commitment we as a nation have always made to being a Light of Liberty. I am saying that we need to recommit ourselves to “walking our talk,” especially in this dangerous age.
Give me your tired, your poor,
~ Emma Lazarus
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
You know, 11 million people live in the shadows. I believe they’re already American citizens. These people are just waiting, waiting for a chance to contribute fully. And by that standard, 11 million undocumented aliens are already Americans, in my view.
~ President Joe Biden
This ought to be the time in which we shatter hate, prejudice, bigotry…with the moral integrity and spiritual values that are given so much lip service and yet so comparatively little courageous action. I have come to believe that the current political climate would change for the better, if we had this reckoning and began to live up to our higher aspirations.
In Love & Service,
Rev. Ron