Mary and Joseph, Refugees

“As I ponder what these last few days before the Nativity might have meant for Mary and Joseph, I can’t help but see the connection between their journey to Bethlehem and flight to Egypt with the travels of so many refugee families searching for a new, safe home.”

—Judith Schelhammer, Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. www.edomi.org

My heart goes out to the many refugees in our world, especially those at our borders, who are just seeking basic safety for their own lives and their family. I also have become acquainted with several DREAMERS, undocumented young people who came with their parents years ago and now are seeking education and status. Their situation is very tenuous. This is the country they know and have grown up in. They have no connection to their country of origin. We would be deporting some of the hardest working groups of people I have known, people who already enrich and broaden our culture.

I try to connect to them in some small way by remembering that all of our ancestors were at one time refugees in this country, unless we are Native Americans.

I can also see ourselves in our search for God as refugees—often deciding to leave a place or point of view where we began, now seeking a wider, larger view of God, or a whole new life. Often this journey entails learning a new language. We step out on roads less traveled. This, as well, cannot be an easy pathway. It is definitely a sacred adventure on which guides can be helpful.

Joanna . joannaseibert.com