They Walk

They Walk

They walk forward with hope.

They walk away from pain and fear.

Horrors that haunt their dreams – they must escape.

Corrupt governments. Gangs of cruelty. Drug traffickers.

Children are not immune. They have been, and will be, tortured in front of their parents.

Some walk with holes in their hearts, loved ones lost.

Some walk with holes in their shoes. Or no shoes.

Some walk with their own scars.

With plastic bags holding all they own, they walk.

With children on their shoulders, they walk.

Thousands of people walk for thousands of miles. With hope. With relief to be leaving the horror and fear.

They are overwhelmingly Christian. They are Catholic and Protestant.

They are leaving their churches but taking their faith.

They pray to the God I pray to.

They sing the hymns I sing.

They want the safety I take for granted every day.

I wonder how heavy a baby feels in her mother’s arms mile after mile after mile.

They are out of their country and away from their fears. They are away from corruption.

But they are walking to my country and I have great fears for them.

Because we have a cruel fool for a President. We have corruption everywhere. There is not a lot of hope for anyone who is walking here. The President is a maniacal liar and gleefully uses “the least these” for campaign-rally fuel.

His followers walk around in hate-filled ignorance.

Our Secretary of Homeland Security says there are no plans to shoot immigrants. Yet.

The military is on the way to the border. The military. Because moms and dads and children are so threatening.

Children are not immune. They have been, and will be, tortured in front of their parents. We lock babies in cages in my country. We rip them out of their mothers’ arms in my country. We lock children in refugee camps in my country. We separate families in my country. Innocent families.

So, there will be new horrors. New nightmares. New scars.

Who will hear their prayers? Who will wipe their tears? Where will they find safety? Who will help them sing again?

My country is going to have a vote soon. The majority of people in my country want different leadership and a sensible government. We want all people to be treated with honor and respect. We want a government that helps other governments who are troubled so that people don’t need to flee. 

We want a government that cares for “the least of these” here, and everywhere. We want a government that is colorblind, inclusive, supportive, and thoughtful.

I can rampage all I want. But my feet aren’t worn out from walking thousands of miles. My possessions would not fit in a plastic bag. I have an overabundance of “stuff.” I can pray and sing and live without fearing for my life.

Most of all, I can vote.

And I will. 

I will vote for the desperate and hopeful immigrants.

Because they walk.


"We will walk with each other, we will walk side by side. 
We will walk with each other, we will walk side by side.

And we'll guard each one's dignity, and save each one's pride.
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.
Ant they'll know we are Christians by our love."

Letter to the President. For "the least of these."

Dear Mr. President,

You are not dear to me, I’m just being polite.

It’s a good attempt on your part to try and change the narrative right now, days before the midterm elections.

Instead of paying attention to the mutilation and death of journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, at the hands of the Saudi Crown Prince’s henchmen, you would like us to focus on a group of immigrants who are coming from Central America looking for safety within our borders.

It’s your ridiculous message of hate and fear. But we don’t buy it. We know the people travelling toward our country are mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents. They have seen loved ones be tortured and killed. Perhaps, they have experienced some of that torture themselves.

They are trying to protect their children. Which any of us would do if we lived in a country with brutal leaders who cared nothing for their people. We would flee with babes in arms to give our children a chance at life.

We are not afraid of the people coming here who need safety and who love their families. They are guilty of nothing.

We are not afraid of “The Other” because we believe we are all one in God’s eyes.

We welcome the stranger and the foreigner because that’s what Jesus did over and over and over again.

You said we can’t presume the Saudi Crown Prince to be guilty of Khashoggi’s death before a thorough investigation.

You said we couldn’t presume Brett Kavanaugh to be guilty before he was investigated.

And yet, you have presumed each immigrant walking toward our country to be guilty. GUILTY. You haven’t met one of them. You know nothing about them. Yet, they are all guilty.

That’s why two-year-old’s and five-year-old’s go to court all alone, once you’ve had them ripped away from their parents.

You strangled the investigation of Kavanaugh. We now have an abuser on the Supreme Court.

You’re doing the same thing regarding the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Because you are personally making a tidy sum of money from that country and your crooked deals.

You think you are winning. You think you can decide how to fix the game. How to rig the election with your Russian lover, Putin. You can proclaim the innocence of the guilty and the guilt of the innocent.

Your followers are blind. Your followers are unable to think clearly for themselves. I marvel at their inability to see how you have taken this country hostage and how they will inevitably go down with you. I do not wish that for them.

But the majority of us see you for the fool you are. You are unintelligent and thoughtless. You are cruel to the most vulnerable of society. You are a laughing stock and embarrassment to our country and the world.

Jesus Christ blessed the children, restored health to the ill, fed the hungry, sat with the outcasts of society and gave them hope. His love had no limits. His grace had no boundary. His kindness held the oppressors of the downtrodden accountable, and his anger was unleashed on the money changers who stole from the poor. Jesus Christ. The Savior of the World.

“Love kindness, do justice, walk humbly with God.” 

Even your “Christian” supporters spew hateful language and condemn brothers and sisters who are different.   

Your chaos won’t last. Your godlessness will not stand. Your greed will leave you in poverty.

We will not allow hate to run and ruin this country.

Our attention will not be diverted.

You are not almighty, but God is. And as it says on the money you love so much:

“In God We Trust.”

And I certainly do.

Sincerely,

Pastor Barb