Xenophobia, Children at the Border, and Jesus

"You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Deuteronomy 10:19

"I was a stranger and you welcomed me." Jesus

Do you see the living Christ fully present in these children and in this family? Do you remember that due to the violent, political atmosphere in their own country, Mary and Joseph took their child and fled, as undocumented migrants, across the border into Egypt? How many of us are here today because our ancestors also fled religious, political, economic, and wars in their homelands? Some may have come through "proper" immigration channels, but not all. Many came across the borders and into this country through other ways.

In 2005, I along with 12 others, went on an immigration educational trip through BorderLinks out of Tucson and Nogales. As a part of our learning, we went down to Altar, Sonora, Mexico where many people fleeing their own land were gathering to risk their lives by crossing the dangerous desert in search of refuge and hope. This family was just one of several who we met and learned their story. They came from Central America. Unable to provide for his family, due to the economic situation, and fearful of the violence in that country, this father and mother, like Joseph and Mary, decided to flee their homes in hopes of a better life. Many of the people we talked with would welcome the chance to return to their homes and home country, when the economic and political climate changes and the violence ends. I also learned that we are part of the problem and part of the solution. We want our investments in companies that move across the border or down into Central America to do well, so we can retire in some comfort or make some money to take that dream trip somewhere. The unintended consequence is that in wanting our investments in these companies to return higher dividends, we want them to pay their workers unfair wages, often just a few dollars a day, provide no benefits, or health care. These companies never support the community or schools around them. The workers live in constant fear of being fired the workers if for any reason are unable to work. If we lived in these conditions, we too might do what many of families and children are doing today, and risk our lives, fleeing such dire circumstances for a chance at a better life. It's not just the politicians or our President, it is us, we the people, who must find it in ourselves to love kindness, do justice, and walk with God, by walking with our brothers and sisters who come to our borders. Organize a trip through BorderLinks or some other immigration education group, learn about the real issues at work in this humanitarian crisis! It is far to easy to be critical of what others are or aren't doing. What are we as human beings doing to help our larger global family? Will it cost us, yes, financially, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Is it worth it? If it was you and your family, your children, how would you want to be received and helped by others? Fredrick Buechner says: “Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.”

Jesus said: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me." The writer of Deuteronomy said: "You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Do you remember?

Is Happiness Really a Warm Gun?

Life is full of paradox.

Last week, Indian Mound Middle School, where my son attends and I work as substitute teacher, held an "Intruder" drill.  Like many school districts, McFarland School District, is constantly discussing, preparing and training for a possible "intruder" event.  It is mind-numbing to even think about it happening in our schools. Sadly, it is happening all too often in our schools and in other places in our society. This morning, as I was dropping my son off at Indian Mound Middle School, we noted a bumper sticker on the car in front of us. It read: "Happiness is a Warm Gun." Sam and I had to discuss what that type of statement meant, especially with the recent shooting of a middle school teacher in Nevada and the young student who then turned the gun on himself and their preparation for a possible intruder at his school.

And then there was this quote from a letter a parent had written to her child's teacher following an intruder drill at his school.  It was on Facebook by a friend of mine who works in the Monroe School District:  "After the last intruder drill at my son’s school, the children were talking about all of the 'what if’s' that could happen in their music class. Their music teacher, a gentle, caring, soft-spoken man listened to each concern and took time to logically address each one.  My son, who normally has nightmares after the intruder drill day, raised his hand and asked his music teacher what would happen if someone had a chainsaw and forced their way into the class. 'I would die protecting you.'  This teacher’s soft but strong answer made tears roll down my cheeks. Why? Because I have no doubt that this gentle, humble soul — who would choose Mozart over violence any day — would certainly keep that promise. I know that this teacher, who wants to bring joy to children and to teach them the joy of music, must go to work each day knowing that he may have to give his life for someone else’s child."

 At the same time, as we approach the one year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, where 20 children and 6 adult staff were slain by a young gunman, Huffington Post has been sharing a story about President Obama's personal reaction and response to that particular shooting.  Here is an excerpt from the article:

"The president took a deep breath and steeled himself, and went into the first classroom...Person after person received an engulfing hug from our commander in chief. He’d say, “Tell me about your son. . . . Tell me about your daughter,” and then hold pictures of the lost beloved as their parents described favorite foods, television shows, and the sound of their laughter. For the younger siblings of those who had passed away—many of them two, three, or four years old, too young to understand it all—the president would grab them and toss them, laughing, up into the air, and then hand them a box of White House M&M’s, which were always kept close at hand. In each room, I saw his eyes water, but he did not break.  And then the entire scene would repeat—for hours. Over and over and over again, through well over a hundred relatives of the fallen, each one equally broken, wrecked by the loss. After each classroom, we would go back into those fluorescent hallways and walk through the names of the coming families, and then the president would dive back in, like a soldier returning to a tour of duty in a worthy but wearing war. We spent what felt like a lifetime in those classrooms, and every single person received the same tender treatment. The same hugs. The same looks, directly in their eyes. The same sincere offer of support and prayer.  The staff did the preparation work, but the comfort and healing were all on President Obama."

As a pastor who has had to share tragic news like the death of a loved one, I can only image what it must have been like for President Obama or any person who had to provide comfort and care that day.  As a parent, I pray that we all might wake up to the insanity of the ongoing violence and senseless shootings happening in our schools and in our communities.  I pray to God for that day to come when as the writer of Revelation (21:5a) says:  "God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away...And God will make all things new."

"Happiness is a Warm Gun" is what the bumper sticker read. I wonder if the father has ever talked with his child about the paradox of the message conveyed on his bumper sticker, the intruder drills his son participates in during school, and the tragic school shootings like Sandy Hook? I pray, he has. If not, at least it helped me have a conversation with my son.  Hopefully, this post will help you have one with your family and friends as well.

Is "Happiness is a Warm Gun"?  I pray to God it is not and yet, for some....

Hunger in Schools

"I was hungry and you gave me something to eat...”    Matthew 25:35

"Walter Cunningham was sitting there lying his head off. He didn't forget his lunch, he didn't have any. He had none today nor would he have any tomorrow or the next day.”
(To Kill A Mockingbird; Harper Lee, Chapter 2)

With the arrival of August, summer vacation from school is ending.  Each Monday seems to bring a whole new round of Facebook posts from parents, who like me, share pictures of their kids heading back to school.  I love looking at all the bright, smiling faces of these young scholars dressed in new outfits, backpacks slung across their shoulders, and lunch boxes held tightly in their hands, posing for that annual family photo.

Yet, there is another picture we all need to see as we send our nation’s children back to school.  However, this one you will probably not find posted on Facebook.  It is the face of Hunger.  It’s presence in our schools and in each classroom of every grade is growing at an alarming, some would say, epidemic rate, that is threatening our nation’s future!

According to No Kid Hungry: Share Our Strength website:  www.nokidhungry.org

• more than 48.8 million Americans—including 16.2 million children— live in households that lack the means to get enough nutritious food on a regular basis. As a result, they struggle with hunger at some time during the year.  That is 1 out of 5 kids in America.  
• 22% of kids under the age of 18 (16 million) live in poverty.  
• Nearly half of all people who use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps) are kids.
• On an average day - 9.8 million students receive a free or reduced priced breakfast.
• Another 10.6 million eligible kids go without such a meal.   

You do not need to tell teachers or lunchroom staff about the face of hunger in our schools.  They see it every day in their classrooms and in the school lunchroom.  They know hunger has a major impact on a student’s ability to learn as well as effecting classroom behavior.    I know from my own experience working in a school, many educators and lunchroom staff, quietly spend their own money to buy students food during the school day.  According to one report: “Fifty-three percent of teachers spend an average $26 of their own money each month providing snacks for their students.” (Ava Wallace, August 24, 2012 -  http://neatoday.org/2012/08/24/child-hunger-in-schools-a-growing-problem) 

Sadly, there is also a stigma attached to hunger in our schools.  Many students do not want to let their peers or even their teachers to know they are going without food.  In Harper Lee’s classic American novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout’s new teacher, Ms. Caroline, asks the students for a show of hands of those who go home for lunch and those who have brought their lunch.  Every student did so, save for one, Walter Cunningham.  When Ms. Caroline asks if he forgot his lunch, he hesitates.  She asks again.  A bit embarrassed, Walter answers: “Yeb’m.”  Ms. Caroline offers him money so he can buy some lunch, but he declines her offer.  Harper Lee writes:  "Walter Cunningham was sitting there lying his head off. He didn't forget his lunch, he didn't have any. He had none today nor would he have any tomorrow or the next day.”  The Cunningham’s were dirt poor and they were a proud.  They did not want to take a hand-out, even if it meant they went hungry.  There are still far too many “Walter Cunningham’s” in our schools.

As a pastor, I have been aware of hunger, or thought I was aware of it.  I have helped collect food for local food pantries.  I have served meals at soup kitchens.  I have shared money with people looking for a meal.  Yet, until I started working in a school, I had not come face-to-face with hunger on a daily basis.  Teachers, support staff, kitchen  crew, and school administrators know the face of Hunger.  A growing number of students know its face as well.  They see it each time they look in a mirror.  Tragically, there are a growing number of students each year who see the image of Hunger reflected back to them.

There many organizations, community groups, and individuals, who having seen the increasing need in our schools, are working to find a solution.  There are a few that I am aware of:

• Breakfast in the Classroom initiative, http://www.breakfastintheclassroom.org; 
• No Kid Hungry: Share Our Strength program, http://www.nokidhungry.org, 
• First Presbyterian Church in Sydney, Ohio - Munch Bunch Backpack Weekend Food Program for school children, http://sidneyfirstpres.org/outreachmission/munchbunchweekendmeals.html

(I would be interested in hearing about other programs in your schools and communities that are working to address the issue of hunger.)

So the next time you see the face of a student walking to school, or waiting at the bus stop, or studying in the public library, or playing on the play ground, or bagging your groceries, or passing you on the street, or in a picture posted on Facebook, I would invite you to look beyond the face - and see if you can see something more - the Face of Hunger.  And if you do, tell me if you can catch a glimpse of one more thing - the face of Christ.

“Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry...and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’”  Matthew 25:44-45