Standing as One
“Believers are never told to become one; we already are one and are expected to act like it. -Joni Eareckson Tada
You and I, sister, are one. God has bound us together. Woven us of the same earth, tears, blood and sweat. No matter our race, our ethnicity or our home. No matter our season of life or marital status, we are divinely interconnected. We are human. We are sisters. We are one.
And so we must act as one. We must see and hear each other. We must lean on each other, amplify each other and act on behalf of and in partnership with one another.
This week Christian women from all over the country are calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, of the Department of Homeland Security, to end the evil, horrendous policy of separating children from their mothers as they enter our country at the southern border.
As a country we have become so anti-immigrant that we are using children as pawns in a policy that is unquestionably cruel and unusual punishment. This “deterrent” is leaving children with life-altering trauma that we as Americans will be unequivocally responsible for. This new policy spits in the face of our immigrant mother-sisters who have risked everything to protect their children, fleeing untold violence, poverty, abuse and corruption.
And so we as single, childless women are all in for this campaign. We are linking arms with our mother-sisters everywhere, declaring that we are ONE. We may not have grown these children in our wombs, but make no mistake these children are our children and these mothers are our sisters.
We don't have to be mothers to see that dividing up children from their families is wrong. We don't have to know the feeling of a life growing inside of us to be gutted by families, families in already desperate situations, being broken up. We don't have to come home to little faces that call us "Mom" to be driven to raise our voices when something is broken and unjust.
All we need to know is how Jesus talked about children and the most vulnerable. The Gospels are filled with examples of him caring for little ones, calling for people to see and honor them. Jesus’ entire life reminds us to care for those in need, in desperate situations, even when it inconveniences us or pushes against societal norms. And the Bible calls us again and again to welcome the stranger, to care for the traveler.
We may not be mothers, but we know the innate and irreplaceable value of mothering. We have been deeply cared for by our own mothers, mothers who still hold us close today. We have been mothered by countless other women who have shown up for us, loved us and stayed within arm’s reach for years on end. We know the value of consistent, dependable, constant mothering. And this is the gift that is being stolen from these children.
Childless women are mothering day in and day out. Aunts and godmothers, foster moms and co-parents, neighbors and Sunday School teachers, we know what it is to love a child with our whole heart. And we cannot imagine the unbearable pain of having that child traumatically taken from us.
We call for an end to the “zero tolerance” policy of separating families at the border not because we are mothers, but because the Bible calls us to love mercy, do justice and walk humbly.
We, as childless women who love Jesus, have signed the letter that proclaims the current family separation policy is wrong and must end. Because any policy that terrorizes and traumatizes children is not what Scripture has called us to. Because love compels us to act. Because this is not “their” pain; this is our pain.
We don’t have to be mothers to stand with mothers and children. We simply must remember that we are sisters, beloved of God. One.
This week, you’ll see many Christian women posting pictures and stories with the hashtag #notwithoutmychild. We invite you to join us. We believe #familiesbelongtogether. This heinous act of separating families at the border must stop. No more. Not on our watch.
Photo by Jenna Christina on Unsplash
