There are people walking off the edge everyday

Let me share two situations in which I found myself in the past weeks. I'm not doing this to shine a light on me. Rather, I am sharing them because I realize how easy it is to sit in the dark - let the world happen out there - talk endlessly about what can be - speak and tell stories that will hopefully inspire new life.

I am blessed with all sorts of friends and acquaintances that I consider as people who live on the edge. It is an edge in which their everyday lives are made available for the well-being of others. That is an edge of life that most folks avoid. It is much easier to turn back from that edge and focus on the well-being of my own kind and how I can protect that which I have fooled myself into believing is mine - all mine.  And yet, I know so many folks who seem to walk off that edge - every damn day - in all sorts of ways - and it is as though that is simply the life they live - no reward or praise needed. But when I look closely at them they shine and they make the world shine and most of the time the brilliance take place within the simplicity of being utterly human without partiality and with the courage to be self-giving for the well-being of all.

These blessed ones may or may not be religious folks. The inspiring part for me is that they are folks who step in and go about doing. They don't act up because it is a part of their job - they act up because they consider that being available to others is a vital part of how they are humanly present in the day. They act up on many levels. They write letters. They take time to physically stand with and for those who need the presence of others. They risk saying and doing that which is not a part of the pattern of the day. They use their language and ideas to open up the possibility for a life of healing and then they put meaning to those words through the actions of their everyday life. They see injustice and bias and bigotry and they make sure those sores are laid open so that the miracle of healing can be seen by everyone - even those who are unwilling to acknowledge the wounds around us. Nothing is put off for later. Service is not something that is done in another place and time. What is and what has been is simple a part of that which could be and therefore they do not settle for that which is.

I have always found that as I am near these folks who act up and are willing to expand the meaning of what it is to be truly human, it is like being in the middle of prayer - or - some might say - mindfulness. I begin to see things and hear things and feel things I know I too often have passed by on my way to build the day or the world as I want it or like it. These folks are willing to explore life that is beyond their own way of living face and therefore encounter surprises that disrupt their thinking and acting and begin to shape a new way of living. These folks are ones who are not colorblind because they want to see the differences and the variety and the strangeness of what it is to be fully human. These folks see time as a gift that we are handed and a gift that we are able to share with others - and they have the audacity to  explore the contents of that gift - right now. These folks read and study and ask questions and risk being wrong because they understand that when they think they are right or must be right - they may fall into the many groups of people through history who saw no value in others and even saw them as expendable.

So, what did I do recently that is making me reconsider everything I do within the realm of my ordinary humanity. I made a phone call. And then, on another day, I turned the car around. I will leave it at that.
TRRR

Because of Them - We are Becoming

Because of them - we are inspired to expand our notion of we. For without them, we will never experience the fullness and wonder and beauty of our humanity. We are less human when we are afraid of them - for they help make complete our humanity.

What is it that causes fear and anxiety around the notion of dreamers and foreigners and exiles who are already in place in our country and long to stay here. I do understand the need to move those folks out who violate the laws of the land. I do not understand the need to deport those who are as much as the fabric of an orderly and creative and productive society as the rest of us. My question today is a simple one. It comes from the realization that I do not know an illegal immigrant who has taken the job of a U.S. citizen. Do you? Don't go on and on about them - the ones in another state - the ones you read about - the ones thrown into that vast pile of no-good foreigners who are not really one of us. Simply reflect on your life. Do you know of a Dreamer that has taken the job of someone close to you - do you know of an illegal immigrant who caused you to get paid less or made you lose the skills you may have needed for your job - do you know of an immigrant who somehow caused you not to fulfill your dreams - do you know of one of these folks who made your educational choices a mistake. We are being told that millions of citizens have lost their jobs (had them taken away) by those immigrants from over the southern border. And yet, I have yet to meet someone who lost their job to one of 'them.'

I don't think the Youngstown steel mills folded because of illegal immigrants. Coal jobs are not being grabbed up by the illegals. Fast food jobs are not disappearing or out of reach for young adults. What I do think is an issue, though, is that there is a great need to place blame on some people so as to explain or give excuse to why other people are not working. When there is that them upon whom we can point a finger or at whom we can throw a stone - for some reason many folks seem to feel better about themselves. For example, when a person must face his/her own shortcomings or inability to reach his/her goals or deal with the simple bad luck in life or anxiety about not having life turn out as expected - it is quite natural to turn to the other (them) and rid oneself of feelings and situations with which they are unable to deal - by dumping all that on them. Those feeling (a whole bunch of them) quickly move into anger and that anger often needs to be directed toward someone other than ourselves. We have to come up with a them. We all do it. It is quite easy. We can make ourselves sound like winners because we work to make them into the losers.

And yet, those who are often painted as thieves or cheats or scoundrels because of their country of origin and their legal status in this country - are most often those who are attempting to live the dream of being a part of this country. Yes, the way it has all been unfolding may not fit the laws-at-hand. But, the laws-at-hand must never been written in stone for then we do not use the law for the sake of creativity and vibrancy and life. Instead, the law can become the stones used to destroy the visions of those who most resemble the proud ancestry of immigrants like my grandparents. Yes, it is different, but we are a people blessed to be a blessing - we become greater when we are free to welcome the stranger and foreigner along with being brave when we encounter those who are not just as we are. The privilege of being a citizen of this country is that we are handed the privilege to make sure that all the people - even those still yearning to be 'we the people' - are invited to share in the experiment that is still unfolding. No need to fear. We need to work at exercising our privilege to serve others as we all become the people who have always dreamed of a new day filled with liberty and justice for all. It is quite possible - even necessary - to live within a rule of law but to do so with a loving heart that is wise and not ruled by fear.

This week I was able to stand with others alongside Edith. She went into sanctuary at the Columbus Mennonite Church. She is an illegal alien. She is courageous. She is productive. She has raised a family and they are making a place within the creativity of this country. Forget about the when and how they have come to this place in life - look at the substance. We must have new eyes - eyes open to new avenues of being a people in the midst of changing time. We must do that without falling for the temptation to bitch and moan and blame. When Edith willingly showed up for appointment at the ICE office - which meant leaving her place of sanctuary - she was walking into that time and space in which there were no sure bets on how one will be able to move forward. Instead of staying safe - she walked into that which could have been the end of things. As I was standing there and listening and watching, I realized she was walking into holy week. Yep, she was like a lamb willingly walking into that which could have been and that which may still be the slaughter of her life and family. That is a strong image but I do not mean for it to be mere hyperbole. All the powers of the land - the anger - the fear - the hatred - the blame - work to put an end to the marvelous opportunity for all of us to reshape our humanity by working at reuniting the separated. It is an act of re-union because though they are not like us and we are not like them - we are the making of humanity - the image of God. When we work to reunite that which we have caused to be separate - because of all the shit we do to one another - we open ourselves us to a future beyond our fears and within the unfolding of a humanity that has been beckoning us to come and see the presence of God among us. Yes, a presence always in the midst of them and us - that endlessly moves toward becoming we the people of God - the whole bunch of us - even those beyond our laws and boundaries and biases.thenm
TRRR