Friday, May 25, 2007
The Other Table
Tonight L. Kyle K. and I went out on a date. We do this every other weekend, at the same place, with the same server - we do not however sit at the same table since we feel it is important to keep a bit of variety in our lives. Unfortunately our conversation was hampered by the person(s) at the table behind us. They were talking about immigration. It was depressing. It seems that the woman who was doing most of the articulating (using the term loosely), was trying to define the American dream, which she believed was embodied in the couple with whom she was dining. They apparently had lived the American dream because they had a successful and decades-long marriage and two kids in college. Those are wonderful things, but I have to wonder if this is truly the American dream. Oh, I think those are goals that could certainly define a portion of the American dream, but these were very upper-class people, an attorney who made LOTS of money to support his stay-at-home wife. I kind of like to think that perhaps the American dream is more like the person who comes to this country because they are desperate to feed their family, so they take a very low-paying job, work their butts off so they can send their kid to college, eventually get their American citizenship and have a true and deep abiding love for this country. I'm not demeaning the lawyer's version of the American dream, but I really believe there is something to what is written on the Statue of Liberty - the part about the huddled masses yearning to be free. I don't think the lawyer was ever part of a huddled mass. Most of us weren't. The truth is, we don't really own this land. It was here long before us, and the people that settled it were, well...immigrants. So let's lighten up a bit about how entitled we are. Perhaps I'm a bit touchy on the subject because my precious daughter is an immigrant. I brought her to this country believing that we are actually a country of immigrants, and that she would be welcomed into the freedom that we all enjoy. Now she is called an American, as we all are. We should all be thankful.
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As Christians, we're all immigrants into God's family. Thank Jesus that he doesn't employ a border patrol and that he tore down whatever fence used to separate us from the Father. More to your point, as Americans we or our ancestors were all immigrants. In fact, ever since Adam and Eve got booted out of the garden, mankind has been immigrating - always will be. The idea of keeping people out seems to lack grace. Whatever happened to the idea of an America that asked the world to bring us its tired and hungry? Telling those who are hungry that they can't have a slice of our pie ultimately just ends up making us fat. Besides, the idea that it's our pie in the first place is a lie that we've bought into; complete with flags and maps. There's only one real Kingdom and thank God there's an open invitation to citizenship.
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