I went to the doctor today, not for my own health, but for my six-month-old and two-year-old. We have health insurance and they are pretty happy healthy kids. In fact, if history is an indicator for future behavior, they should have pretty normal, privileged lives. They will have the luxury of receiving an education, growing up without having to fear most of life itself. I wish this were true for all kids in the world. It is the future that I think we all long for deep down.
To say that issues of immigration are complicated is a monumental understatement. We have been arguing about immigration since this country was founded. Our country began with bringing people here who had no desire to be here and then forcing them to work. By 1850, the naturalization process took twenty one years, and by the 1880s, when massive waves of Europeans were flooding into the United States, immigration escalated, many of the conversations similar to what are taking place today.
As a citizen of this country, I do feel it is necessary that certain rights and freedoms and promised to its citizens. It is important that as citizens, we have access to healthcare, access to education, a legal system with protected rights, and access to jobs so that we can provide for ourselves and our families. I think that the fear most people have about immigration stems from trying to understand how society will maintain the stress of an increased flood of people on the system before expanding the larger societal structure to support those people. Will there be enough hospital beds, enough desks in the classroom and teachers in the schools, enough jobs, and enough food to feed everyone? And who is going to pay for it?
These are good questions. And I wish I had answers, or at least better answers. This coming Sunday, people in most mainline protestant and Catholic churches will hear a little passage from the Bible about Jesus breaking bread and fish and the disciples feeding 5,000 people. In the story, the disciples don’t want to feed the massive crowd gathered because they only have five loaves and two fish. Maybe they are worried that if they share what they have, they won’t have enough food the next day. Maybe they are so worried about their own survival that they are unable to worry about the welfare of others. It strikes me that people have always worried about having enough. Even the disciples worried. Will we have enough to go around? Will we have enough food to feed everyone, enough desks in the classrooms and teachers in the schools, enough jobs, and enough hospital beds?
I wish I had a long term answer that addresses the reason that children would leave their homes to be 3,000 miles away from their families in order to seek safety, security, and the promise for a better life. It would be a much better world if this were not the case. But in the meantime we have a bunch of hungry children at our border. And I wonder if our faith has a response. Could a few loaves and fish teach us that at least today, we can have a response that doesn't hinge on our own security and welfare?
To say that issues of immigration are complicated is a monumental understatement. We have been arguing about immigration since this country was founded. Our country began with bringing people here who had no desire to be here and then forcing them to work. By 1850, the naturalization process took twenty one years, and by the 1880s, when massive waves of Europeans were flooding into the United States, immigration escalated, many of the conversations similar to what are taking place today.
As a citizen of this country, I do feel it is necessary that certain rights and freedoms and promised to its citizens. It is important that as citizens, we have access to healthcare, access to education, a legal system with protected rights, and access to jobs so that we can provide for ourselves and our families. I think that the fear most people have about immigration stems from trying to understand how society will maintain the stress of an increased flood of people on the system before expanding the larger societal structure to support those people. Will there be enough hospital beds, enough desks in the classroom and teachers in the schools, enough jobs, and enough food to feed everyone? And who is going to pay for it?
These are good questions. And I wish I had answers, or at least better answers. This coming Sunday, people in most mainline protestant and Catholic churches will hear a little passage from the Bible about Jesus breaking bread and fish and the disciples feeding 5,000 people. In the story, the disciples don’t want to feed the massive crowd gathered because they only have five loaves and two fish. Maybe they are worried that if they share what they have, they won’t have enough food the next day. Maybe they are so worried about their own survival that they are unable to worry about the welfare of others. It strikes me that people have always worried about having enough. Even the disciples worried. Will we have enough to go around? Will we have enough food to feed everyone, enough desks in the classrooms and teachers in the schools, enough jobs, and enough hospital beds?
I wish I had a long term answer that addresses the reason that children would leave their homes to be 3,000 miles away from their families in order to seek safety, security, and the promise for a better life. It would be a much better world if this were not the case. But in the meantime we have a bunch of hungry children at our border. And I wonder if our faith has a response. Could a few loaves and fish teach us that at least today, we can have a response that doesn't hinge on our own security and welfare?