December 10 was International Human Rights Day, and we brought Mary
and Joseph to seek shelter at the immigration detention center. It is an immigration court as well, but since
so very few immigrants win their cases, it amounts to be the last stop, the
last holding pen before they are separated from their families and deported.
It was below zero when we started walking, with windchills 10-15
below. By the time Mary and Joseph got
there, the sun rose—gloriously, I might add. Beauty and the call for justice
were together, almost dancing.
And then the temperature reached up to zero.
Zero. A good place to
start. Zero hour. Zero degrees is due north, and we were
walking in the cold north, pleading for posada for others like Maria and Jose
to not be sent south—some to certain violence and death, all to pain and
separation.
The detention center is located near Fort Snelling. Fort Snelling was built near the confluence
of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, where the Dakota believe creation
started. It was at Ft. Snelling that hundreds of Dakota women, children and
elderly were interned after the 1862 uprising, before they died of hunger and
exposure, or were deported from Minnesota.
There was no longer any room for them in this state, and no time to advocate
for their freedom and dignity.
The “zero hour” of the
Christmas story is recorded in St. Luke 2:7:
“Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of
cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the
inn.”
Why was there no place in the inn? Because Mary and Joseph were
foreigners Galileans who were seen as 2nd class people,? Or because
they were poor? Or was it because of the hardness of the Innkeeper's hearts?
Why do today's migrants ask for shelter in this country and can't find it? Because they are foreigners, considered “less than”? Or poor? Or is it because of the hardness of our hearts?
We’re going to walk with these giant puppets of Mary and Joseph
through our immigrant neighborhood on Sunday, asking for posada, for shelter. As our program says, “we will keep
walking. We will keep opening doors.”
Be justice. Be beauty. Be
welcoming.
Patrick
Postscript: when I insert a picture into a Word document, it
often gives an unasked for caption suggestion.
This is what came up with the photo above:
A picture containing sky, outdoor, person, ground
I’m just going to leave that hanging there.
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