Desperate acts

I can’t imagine the terrifying conditions that would drive a mother to pack up her children and belongings and walk–walk–for hundreds of miles toward our border in hopes of finding a safe refuge here in America. Can you? And can you imagine that mother’s shock and grief when her hopes are met with tear gas?

I am reminded of the story of Hagar, who was forced from her home with her little son Ishmael (Genesis 21:14-20). She wandered in the desert wilderness with her boy, carrying what little food and water she had. When the water was gone, Hagar was sure it was the end. She set Ishmael down in the shade of a bush and went some distance away, thinking, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And she lifted up her voice and wept.

In the scriptures, God hears the cries of this desperate migrant family and saves them. I pray God hears the cries of the migrant families at our borders. I pray that we who call ourselves Christians hear the cries of the migrant families and act.

This message is excerpted from “What can we as Christians do?” by Jennifer DeLeon from the December 6, 2018, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today we commemorate Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Bishop of El Salvador, martyr, 1980.

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