Will You Hear Her?
I am not a mother in a biological or traditional sense. I am a mother to dreams, revolutions, and peace treaties between friends by the fire. More than that, I’m the daughter of a Mother God who is heartbroken at the injustices of our world.
God weeps each time a mother and her child are separated at our border.
Make no mistake our nation has a history of separating families that transcends any particular political party. Enslaved African American mothers watched their precious children be auctioned away from them only to stay and take care of another woman’s child. Forced relocation of Indigenous peoples profoundly impacts the lives and livelihoods of families even today. Mass incarceration coupled with political, racial, and social injustices threaten the very nucleus of family for entire communities.
God is weeping. Can you not hear the spirit beckoning us to love mercy, seek justice, and walk humbly? Will you hear her?
Jesus has always cared about families. Even on the cross, we see the delegation of John to Mary, “Woman behold your son (John 19:26)". How prophetic might it be that during a moment of separation and transition Jesus places the focus on the family? There is this beautiful identification that what is to come for both Mary and John will require the foundation of family.
God is weeping. Can you hear the spirit beckoning us to speak out, to stand up? Will you hear her?
I will. I choose to stand with children, mothers, and families in declaring #notwithoutmychild. In response I've added my name to a letter with numerous other Christian mothers and women.The letter is only a start to a much larger fight towards more just solutions to our immigration and refugee crises.
Our cause is simple. We believe that no child and mother should be separated as a result of a "zero-tolerance" border policy. We believe that the zero tolerance policy is not God's best for our neighbors. We believe that the family separation policy is counterintuitive to the very nature of Christ and anti-family.
I believe that it's time for our pew lives to match our public ones.
God is weeping. Will you hear her?
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 credit: Gabriele Diwald
