Remember the Immigrant

We serve a God who directs us to care especially for those most vulnerable in society. Our Scriptures tell us of God's special concern for the "alien" or the "stranger," or as more contemporary translations say--the immigrant.

For the Lord our God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. God defends the cause of the orphan and the widow, and loves the immigrant, giving the immigrant food and clothing. And we are to love those who are immigrants, for God's people were immigrants in Egypt (Deuteronomy 10:17-19)

We ask God to open our eyes to the struggles of immigrant workers, for we know that:

We must not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether the worker is a resident or immigrant living in our town. We must pay the worker the wages promptly because the worker is poor and counting on it. (Deuteronomy 24:14)

God's desire is that those who build houses may live in them,

And that those who plant may eat. (Isaiah 65:22)

And yet we know this is not possible for many in our midst.

We know of:
farmworkers who cannot feed their families,
construction workers who have no homes,
nursing home workers who have no health care,
restaurant workers who could not afford a meal in the restaurant.


We know that too many immigrant workers among us are not receiving the fruits of their labor, nor the justice required by the courts.

God charges our judges to hear disputes and judge fairly, whether the case involves citizens or immigrants. (Deut. 1:16)

But our laws do not adequately protect immigrants. Our legal and social service programs exclude many immigrants. Our education programs undervalue immigrant children.

God tells us that the community is to have the same rules for citizens and for immigrants living among us. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. Citizens and immigrants shall be the same before the Lord. (Numbers 15:15)

When an immigrant lives in our land,

We will not mistreat him or her. We will treat an immigrant as one of our native born. We will love an immigrant as ourselves, for God's people were once immigrants in Egypt. (Leviticus 19:33-34)

And a special word to those who employ immigrant farmworkers:

Make sure immigrants get a day of rest. (Exodus 23:12)

To those who craft our immigration laws and policies, we lift up God's command:

Do not deprive the immigrant or the orphan of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that God's people were slaves in Egypt and the Lord our God redeemed them from there. (Deut. 24:17-18)

To all of us who seek to do God's will, help us to:

Love one another as God has loved us. Help us to treat immigrants with justice and compassion that God shows to each of us.


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This was one of the prayers that were shared last night at the rally in opposition to the new immigration law in Arizona. It was distributed in pamphlets by Interfaith Worker Justice (www.iwj.org).

More info about the rally:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/may/29/rally-in-opposition-to-immigration-law/

Eastern and Western attitudes toward nature

A seventeenth-century Japanese haiku by Basho:

When I look carefully

I see the nazuna blooming

By the hedge!

A nineteenth-century poem by Alfred Tennyson:

Flower in the crannied wall,

I pluck you out of the crannies,

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,

Little flower--but if I could understand

What you are, root and all, and all in all,

I should know what God and man is.

The Buddhist philosopher Suzuki (1960) observes that the Japanese poet does not pluck the nazuna but is content to admire it from a respectful distance; his feelings are "too full, too deep, and he has no desire to conceptualize it" (3). Tennyson, in contrast, is active and analytical. He rips the plant by its roots, destroying it in the very act of admiring it. "He does not apparently care for its destiny. His curiosity must be satisfied. As some medical scientists do, he would vivisect the flower" (3).

Tennyson's violent imagery is reminiscent of Francis Bacon's description of the natural scientist as one who must "torture nature's secrets from her" and make her a "slave" to mankind (Merchant 1980: 169). Principles of monism, holism, and balanced complementarity in nature, which can temper perceptions of opposition and conflict, have largely given way to the analytic urge in the recent history of Western culture.

(from "A Critical-Interpretive Approach in Medical Anthropology: Rituals and Routines of Discipline and Dissent" by Margaret Lock and Nancy Scheper-Hughes, 1990)

Participatory Research

"This implies breaking the monopoly of knowledge in the hands of the elites--i.e. giving the people their right to assert their existing knowledge to start with, giving them the opportunity and assistance, if needed, to advance their self-knowledge through self-enquiry as the basis of their action, and to review themselves and their experiences from action to further advance their self-knowledge. In this reflection-action-reflection of the people, professional knowledge can be useful only in a dialogue with people's knowledge on an equal footing through which both can be enriched, and not in the arrogance of assumed superior wisdom. Altering thus the relations of knowledge ... is a central commitment of what is being termed as 'participatory research'."

(Breaking the Monopoly of Knowledge, Anisur Rahman)

Society, crazy indeed!

Today, as I read articles for my class "Sociology of Development", I get frustrated with the state of affairs (political, economic and social) in our world and for our lack of meaningful action to change things around.

My frustration drives me to remember Alex McCandles whose story was told in the movie Into The Wild. The following quotes from the movie and soundtrack describe my feelings at the moment:

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods; 

There is a rapture on the lonely shore;

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar; 

I love not man the less, but Nature more... 

- Lord Byron

Society, you're a crazy breed.

I hope you're not lonely, without me.

Society, crazy indeed...

I hope you're not lonely, without me

Society, have mercy on me.

I hope you're not angry, if I disagree.

Society, crazy indeed.

I hope you're not lonely...

without me.

-Eddie Vedder

On Science and Spirituality

"Science, conceived as evidence and radical questioning, may advance understanding by enabling realistic appraisals of life and its circumstances--for example, by showing that lightening is a giant electrical spark passing from positive to negative cloud particles rather than an expression of anger from the gods in heaven (and hence lightening conductors save lives, while prayer wastes time, preventing escape)--without claiming omnipotence or total knowledge. Some degree of empirical accuracy may be only the beginning of understanding, as existential philosophy argues." (Peet and Hartwick, 2009)

I ask: why understanding? What's the worth of knowing the chemical reactions that happen all around  me if deep inside I feel empty and meaningless?

Science can make life more “efficient” and “better”, true. But efficient and better doesn't necessarily mean lasting “satisfaction” or “contentment”. (For example, I know people that have many luxuries but are always unhappy 'cause they see no purpose in life.)

If, as Geertz said, “man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun,” then I rather spin webs of meaning that bring joy and fulfillment to my life. If worshiping the sun and starts brings peace and joy into my heart, then I'll do so (even if science disqualifies my beliefs).

Rather than seeking scientific advancement, let's advance spiritually—in love, tolerance and honesty.

“What, in human life is truly richness and progress?"
(O'Conner and Arnoux, 1993: 12-13)

To clarify: I do like knowing how the natural world (including our physical body) works. Chemistry and biology are fascinating! However, I have a problem with human existence dependent on science and technology. We are a society fascinated with shinny tinny tech-stuff! But we are a society that has lost its soul, its imagination, its sense of community, its purpose.. because those are things that you cannot find thru science!