Day 37: Bridges, Borders, and Transformational Change

BY JESSICA MAYO | March 22, 2018
Today’s Readings

“Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” John 8:58

My son loves roller coasters. He draws dozens of them every week. But he was indignant when I complimented his most recent design. “That is not a roller coaster! It’s a bridge! You know, mom—build bridges, not walls.” As an immigration attorney, this felt like a huge parenting win, even if I had mistaken his beautiful bridge for a roller coaster.

Today’s readings tell us that God is. God always is. God is outside of time, existing both then and now. And God is everywhere, both here and there.  

Let’s stretch ourselves further. With God, there is no “then” and “now.” No “here” and there.” God created a world without borders. Humans are the ones that draw squiggly lines across the map and then imbue those scribbles with manifest destiny, border walls, and legal ramifications.

Santa Fe Bridge/Puente Internacional Paso Del Norte connecting El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.

Our connectedness extends to our causes. Racism and injustice pervade our institutions. If we want to create transformational change, we must see the parallels between Black Lives Matter and the Sanctuary movement (protecting immigrants from deportation). We must see the importance of the issue of gun violence not just for high schools, but also for communities of color. And when our institutions seek to triangulate the issues—making one a political priority, or praising some activists and condemning others—we must recognize that this hampers all of our efforts for justice.   

God is—now and every time, here and everywhere. God invites us to open ourselves in the same way, to recognize our common bonds and the threads that weave through all of our lives.  

For reflection:

None of us can be involved in every social justice cause.

  • What are you already involved in, or where are you called to get involved?  
  • What connections are there between your work and that of other causes?  
  • How can you be intentional about recognizing those common threads?
1 reply
  1. Elaine Pfaff
    Elaine Pfaff says:

    Think globally. Act locally. The rallying cry of the 60’s! Alive again for me during this Holy Week to come. God is more than the sum of the parts. Both in the parts and more than the parts. In Church and beyond church – to this beautiful, fragile, expanding
    Universe (s). In the particular person to the global Community. Let us reverence Christ in one another working for the common good. And thank you for your passionate activism in Peace & Justice.

    Reply

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