Dallas Clergy Vigil at Ice Headquarters
Week Two: Pre and Post Thoughts
This morning a group of Dallas Clergy continud a weekly vigil outside of the Dallas Ice offices.
Our vision is for this vigil to continue, weekly.
If you want a reminder of why were are doing what we are doing, CLICK HERE for last week’s pre/post-vigil post. It also has updated links of the media coverage and some essays written by other clergy later that week.
We would like to see this spread.
Today, we called for clergy in other cities to join us.
We pray that they will.
For my fellow United Methodists, I would again refer you to our own social teaching on these issues. Some of the best part of our polity is in this video and image from today:
Rev. Dr. Andy Mangum is Regional Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Southwest and he delivered this prayer today:
More thoughts from me….
Yesterday’s Gospel lesson in church has Jesus saying this:
“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.”
(John 10: 27-30)
This is a hard passage to hear on Mother’s Day Weekend, as stories of actual women being snatched off American streets are filtering out through the media. But then, I remembered that Jesus used this same word (in the Biblical Greek) one before:
“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”
(Matthew 11:12)
What John’s Gospel translates as “snatched,” Matthew translates as “take it by force.”
But don’t miss this: In the Biblical Greek, it’s the same word (harpazo) both times.
Jesus, in his time, and as a message to ours, is speaking to the harshness of the world’s “Powers That Be.”
And so, today, we contine to speak against the Powers of Empire who take by force.
We will continue to call for compassion, love, justice for all Migrants.
We will continue to demand due process for them.
And we will continue pray for any and all persons (migrants, ICE staff, anyone) who seeks prayer.
And I will remind everyone of one final thing, which I said several times last week in response to critics: You cannot demand people “follow the rules” or “do it the right way,” and then change the rules and change the “due process.”
That is exactly what America has done in recent weeks, and that is part of the heart of the current injustice.
For those who continue to falsely believe that only “criminals” are being targeted through these actions, please hear these words about a woman who was held for SIX WEEKS.
May God bless all those working for a more compassionate world.
EF
Thought of your group after reading this prayer today:
Spirit & Verse: A Prayer for Living "Fratelli Tutti"
When our lofty words of love have been emptied of their meaning,
When our borders and computer screens have erected impenetrable walls,
When our minds are so quick to conflate "other" with "enemy,"
How will we find our common humanity?
It's never too late to make an earnest and tender start.
May we remove from our pockets the stones we intended to throw
And cement them together to build a home that welcomes all.
May we repent of our indifference and move into genuine encounter.
Instead of drawing battle lines,
May we draw our chairs up to a communal table,
Where we can feast in the knowledge of our shared dignity.
May God grant us the holy vision
To see every human being a sacred mystery,
And may we love each mystery not abstractly, but concretely.
Just as Thomas touched the wounds of Jesus,
May we be unafraid to touch the wounds of our suffering neighbor.
May we lay down our arms and offer our outstretched hands,
Until there is no "them," but only "us,"
Until we are at last, sisters and brothers, all.
Amen. - Cameron Bellm