This video was on my facebook feed this morning. I have to admit that I have watched this snippet about ten times, and each time I see it the power of it hits me over and over again. This is one of the most honest, most human responses I have seen in the media around what the Current US administration is doing to migrant families. The whole idea that a powerful government could possibly think that it would be a good decision to separate already vulnerable families so that infants and children are housed in places separate from their parents is incredible and unimaginable to me. As a mother, my response is very similar to to that of Rachel Maddow's. Unaldulterated disbelief and deep grief. You can find the stories, the pictures, and the sound clips of the "tender age" care centers. You can see, hear and imagine what the situation is like. You can watch videos like this: This is Now Rachel Maddow story. I did it. And each time I saw, or heard or imagined what was going on my heart broke again over the dehumanizing affect this whole situation has. The outrage that is beginning to grow is a testament to the fact that the people of the States do not want or condone this kind of treatment.
I have to admit, I had a moment or two (or three) where I wondered where God was in all of this fear? How on earth could I find God in such a situation as this? Has God walked off the stage to let us fend for ourselves? I don't think so. Here's why: there are voices who are speaking up and against the government action; There are newscasters who can't finish broadcasts because of tears, there are those who are gathering others so that they can act on behalf of the vulnerable; there is a growing number of people in the states who are recognizing how very wrong this is, and are making themselves heard.
There is movement happening... Trump has agreed that going forward families will be incarcerated together, but that doesnot help the children who are already separated. Feeling helpless because of distance, I found myself moved to prayer. I found myself needing to write words down that could be shared with others, so that together our prayers may join together and be a source of support and encouragement to those in the States working hard to bring human rights to the forefront, and seeking to find ways to bring justice to a lost situation. That is where God is. That is where God is calling us... to words and prayer in support of works of action and justice, seeking to honour the humanity in the other rather than seeing the difference in being.
So I share my prayer with you, may you find the words that you need to offer that reflect where your heart and spirit are being pulled.
From here, Holy One,
All we have to offer are words.
Words of lament,
Words of sadness,
Words of disbelief,
Words of anger.
All our words pale
In response to the terror
the heartbreak,
the confusion
In the faces of infants,
Children, teens,
Torn from their families,
Isolated,
As a way to make a point.
How do we speak against
The powerful and comfortable,
Who return to their families,
And their homes of comfort,
After tearing apart scared and displaced families,
As a means to discourage those
Who are forced to find a new life,
A secure and safe place to be
By any means necessary.
From here, Holy One,
Our outrage and grief,
Seem diminished because of distance.
We cry out, seeking wisdom
To find ways to move from word to action.
We turn to you, Creator,
To find ways to
Reach out in real ways,
So as to show those in power,
Who seek to frighten and dehumanize,
That we will not stand for it.
Help us to be the justice seeking people
You call us to be in this world.
We seek the courage
To stand with those in the States
Whose hearts also break at the
Horrific and unjust actions of their government.
May we find the words that need to spoken,
So that those who can act on the behalf of the migrant peoples
Can become the source of action against the atrocity.
We may only have our words, God,
But when our voices join together,
They can be a cacophony of love and justice.
May our voices ring out,
Now and always. Amen.