{"id":58414,"date":"2019-08-15T16:57:57","date_gmt":"2019-08-15T20:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ignatiansolidarity.net\/?p=58414"},"modified":"2019-08-15T16:57:57","modified_gmt":"2019-08-15T20:57:57","slug":"call-if-you-need-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Call If You Need Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY MIKE JORDAN LASKEY<\/a><\/strong> | August 15, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Our four-year-old daughter is in the hilarious phase of pretend play where she\u2019s imitating adult speech and activities. The other night, she had me and my wife on the couch while she pretended to \u201cgo for a jog\u201d back and forth to her room down the hall, which was serving as an imaginary supermarket, big box store, and ice cream parlor. Each time she returned to the living room after about ten seconds of \u201cshopping,\u201d she\u2019d have another pretend item to share with us, like \u201cexamples\u201d (what she calls samples) from Costco.<\/span><\/p>\n

The funniest part of this was as she prepared to leave on her jog each time, she would turn back to us sitting there and say, <\/span>\u201cCall if you need me.\u201d<\/span><\/em> Then, a step toward her room before turning again. <\/span>\u201cJust call if you need me.\u201d<\/span><\/em> Three, four, five times she would do this each 10-foot trip, until we would shout, <\/span>\u201cOK! Don\u2019t worry! We\u2019ll call if we need you.\u201d<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m wondering where she got that phrase from, and there are two leading possibilities. First, I thought she had heard us use it when we leave her in her room alone to play or read\u2014like, <\/span>let us know if something goes wrong or you need company.<\/span><\/em> But I think it\u2019s actually from when I head out to the store, leaving my wife at home with one or both of our daughters\u2014as in, <\/span>call me on the cell if you want to add any last-minute items to the list<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i> Either way, the kiddo has a lot of experience with calling when she needs something. (Or when she doesn\u2019t need something.) Answering her calls occupies a big slice of time on the \u201cparenting a pre-schooler\u201d pie chart. Some days, she says <\/span>\u201cMommy, Mommy\u201d<\/span><\/em> so much without an actual follow-up question that we beg her to get our attention with literally any other word.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I hope she\u2019s learning a lesson about her family: When someone calls out, another person is always there to answer. This baseline family values stuff even has scriptural parallels. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus shares with his disciples a poetic version of <\/span>\u201cCall if you need me\u201d<\/span><\/em>: <\/span>\u201cAsk, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you,\u201d he says. \u201cIs there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake?\u201d The closeness God desires with us is beyond our understanding, but the trust and compassion of a parent for a child is a pretty good illustration, Jesus suggests. I\u2019m glad our kiddo seems to have internalized this at least a bit.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few hours before our evening of pretending, all over the state of Mississippi, 680 immigrants were arrested in the largest coordinated work-site raid in the history of the United States. Kids who were at school while the raids were happening left for the day temporarily homeless, unsure when or where they\u2019d see their parents again. <\/span>\u201cI need my dad and mommy,\u201d<\/span><\/em> an 11-year old girl named Magadalena <\/span>told a local TV station<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>\u201cMy dad didn\u2019t do anything, he\u2019s not a criminal.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI need my dad and mommy\u201d<\/span><\/em> are the words of a child who is used to depending on her parents. They are words of trust rooted in experience: I call you because I need you and you answer. I call and call and you answer every time. This one of the horrifying traumas of our immigration enforcement policy of family separation. Tiny kids are routinely learning that no, in fact, their parents won\u2019t be there when they call, despite their promises.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is there any possible way in the universe that our God the Father is anything but brokenhearted and enraged by all of this? Do we think God shrugs his shoulders at the scene unfolding in Mississippi and says, <\/span>Well, those parents should have obeyed the law?<\/span><\/em> Does God, who loves all his children more than I love my daughters, care about citizenship papers? Does any single argument in favor of ripping families apart withstand Gospel scrutiny? If my heart was even the smallest bit more God-like in compassion, would I still be able to read about the raids in Mississippi, shake my head, and go on with my day? <\/span>God, we\u2019re calling. We need you. Help us.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The baseline family values of trust and compassion have scriptural parallels: When someone calls out for help, another person is there to answer. So, does any single argument in favor of ripping families apart withstand Gospel scrutiny?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":58469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1359,1354],"yoast_head":"\nCall If You Need Me - Ignatian Solidarity Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When someone calls out for help, another person is there to answer. Does any single argument in favor of ripping families apart withstand Gospel scrutiny?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Call If You Need Me - Ignatian Solidarity Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When someone calls out for help, another person is there to answer. Does any single argument in favor of ripping families apart withstand Gospel scrutiny?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ignatian Solidarity Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IgnatianSolidarity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-15T20:57:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/call-if-you-need-me-featured.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"845\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike Jordan Laskey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@igsolidaritynet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@igsolidaritynet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mike Jordan Laskey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/\",\"name\":\"Call If You Need Me - Ignatian Solidarity Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/call-if-you-need-me-featured.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-15T20:57:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-15T20:57:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/#\/schema\/person\/c07b06790082cac8f0318a7af655fd16\"},\"description\":\"When someone calls out for help, another person is there to answer. Does any single argument in favor of ripping families apart withstand Gospel scrutiny?\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/call-if-you-need-me-featured.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/call-if-you-need-me-featured.jpg\",\"width\":845,\"height\":450},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/\",\"name\":\"Ignatian Solidarity Network\",\"description\":\"a national social justice education & advocacy network\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/#\/schema\/person\/c07b06790082cac8f0318a7af655fd16\",\"name\":\"Mike Jordan Laskey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/mike-jordan-laskey-120x120.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/mike-jordan-laskey-120x120.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Mike Jordan Laskey\"},\"description\":\"Mike Jordan Laskey is the senior communications manager for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States in Washington, D.C. He is the author of the book The Ministry of Peace and Justice (Liturgical Press), and he's the sports columnist for the National Catholic Reporter, where he also contributes to the Young Voices section. His work has also appeared in Vice, America, Give Us This Day, US Catholic, and other outlets.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/author\/mjordanlaskey\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Call If You Need Me - Ignatian Solidarity Network","description":"When someone calls out for help, another person is there to answer. Does any single argument in favor of ripping families apart withstand Gospel scrutiny?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Call If You Need Me - Ignatian Solidarity Network","og_description":"When someone calls out for help, another person is there to answer. Does any single argument in favor of ripping families apart withstand Gospel scrutiny?","og_url":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/","og_site_name":"Ignatian Solidarity Network","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IgnatianSolidarity","article_published_time":"2019-08-15T20:57:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":845,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/call-if-you-need-me-featured.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mike Jordan Laskey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@igsolidaritynet","twitter_site":"@igsolidaritynet","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mike Jordan Laskey","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/","url":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/","name":"Call If You Need Me - Ignatian Solidarity Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/call-if-you-need-me-featured.jpg","datePublished":"2019-08-15T20:57:57+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-15T20:57:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/#\/schema\/person\/c07b06790082cac8f0318a7af655fd16"},"description":"When someone calls out for help, another person is there to answer. Does any single argument in favor of ripping families apart withstand Gospel scrutiny?","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/2019\/08\/15\/call-if-you-need-me\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/call-if-you-need-me-featured.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/call-if-you-need-me-featured.jpg","width":845,"height":450},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/","name":"Ignatian Solidarity Network","description":"a national social justice education & advocacy network","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/#\/schema\/person\/c07b06790082cac8f0318a7af655fd16","name":"Mike Jordan Laskey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/mike-jordan-laskey-120x120.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/mike-jordan-laskey-120x120.jpg","caption":"Mike Jordan Laskey"},"description":"Mike Jordan Laskey is the senior communications manager for the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States in Washington, D.C. He is the author of the book The Ministry of Peace and Justice (Liturgical Press), and he's the sports columnist for the National Catholic Reporter, where he also contributes to the Young Voices section. His work has also appeared in Vice, America, Give Us This Day, US Catholic, and other outlets.","url":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/blog\/author\/mjordanlaskey\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/420"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58414"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58471,"href":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58414\/revisions\/58471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ignatiansolidarity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}