A few days from now families will sit around tables overflowing with food and remember everything good in the world. Around warm fireplaces they will enjoy the company of their loved ones, even those who haven't been seen in ages. The new-borns will be passed from cousin to cousin, each relishing the chance to hold the precious little life, and the oldest members of the family will enjoy a place of honor, perhaps saying a blessing over the meal, or themselves having the most time to hold the young ones.
Family traditions will continue, in their hilarity, fun, joy, and awkwardness. Old recipes will be made once again, no matter the fact that only one bite is ever taken of Great Aunt Elizabeth's olive and artichoke stuffing. For this is a time to remember! Is it not? We remember what has passed, and we give thanks for the hard work that has brought about a plentiful harvest. How I look forward to that day! But before we give thanks for the peace and comfort in our own lives, can we remember those who suffer, or will we choose to forget them, so as to avoid, "putting a damper on the fun?" If I remember carefully, the tradition was started long ago, by those who were barely surviving. Having endured the hardships of the sea, European settlers arrived, soaked and sickly, on the shores of a strange land. Death was their constant companion in the tiny camps, and it came in cruel ways. Yet those who survived, when the harvest was brought in, the shelters were built, the wood was cut, and the sickness had past, gave thanks. They thanked God, they thanked each other, and they thanked the strangers, the native people, who helped them. For on their own, they would not have survived. Times are not so different. A prosperous multitude of people live in the land, enjoying life and living as they please, and suddenly strangers arrive on the shore, fleeing their native lands in hope of something better. Do we dare accept them? They could take our land, impose their law, kill our people, and some day forget about us. Our peace, our lives, and even the memory of us could vanish if we allow them to live among us. Perhaps all that will come to pass. But is that not the very nature of this world? Flowers wither, babies grow old, streams dry up, harvests fail, houses fall down, governments collapse, and life, ultimately, ends. But I do not fear all of this, for if I do, my peace is robbed already. How can I avoid death? Even if I live a long life I will grow old, my joints will hurt, my thoughts will slow, my eyes will dim, my tastebuds dull, and my very body will begin to feel like a living death not worth preserving. If this is the case then let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die! Let's enjoy our youthful days, for they are all we have! Why should I save a penny if I might die tomorrow or tonight? And the mad chaos of selfish consumption becomes all we know. Cast off the stranger, for they may shorten our peace! How frail then is our peace? That we must guard it so carefully as to destroy the hope of others? Disgusting! Let me choke on my feasting if I deny food to the starving! I have seen a picture describing the Syrian refugees as a brood of vipers. How narrow and cruel! Of course some of them are terrorists trying to slither into the nation and kill us! But four million people do not leave their homes and fly to the seas to kill those who would try to save them! And if they do then how dare they claim to serve a good and just God? But here is what my God has said, Deuteronomy 10:19, "You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." Matthew 5:43-44 "You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy’. But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you." And in Matthew 25:35 Jesus tells the disciples that at the final judgment He will look at His followers and tell them, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me." The only peace we have is not of this world, not of rich harvests and friendly faces, safe homes and respectable neighbors, but it is found in the God Who created this world, and who promises His people new life, even after death. A life without end, without pain, without suffering. I give thanks for the joys of this life, for they point to the joys of the life to come, where old and young, brother and sister, will dwell together forever in the peace and presence of their God, but I dare not preserve those joys at the cost of life, upon life, upon life, bodies strewn on the shore, unloved by the very ones who they needed most. Do not let the fear of being hurt cause you to truly hurt others. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." - Romans 12:20. I do not envy the wrath of God that will be poured out on those who harm their helpers. But I fear for those who would deny food, water, and clothing to the starving, thirsty, and naked.
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NewsAuthorJ. Christopher Earl is a beginning Christian author living in the beautiful city of Portland, Oregon. Archives
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