I am sure that all of us are watching with concern and sadness as fires rage in LA and the surrounding areas. The suffering must be incredible, and the rebuilding will be long and difficult. This morning, I heard a report on NPR about Altadena, a community northeast of LA. It seems that groups of undocumented people from a number of countries south of our border were wandering around, helping to put fires out. They carried shovels, dragged hoses, and formed bucket brigade lines. One homeowner who decided to try to save his house from the fire raging next door was exhausted after holding the fire at bay for four hours. He went into his house for something, and when he returned, there were a bunch of people he didn’t know shoveling dirt onto the fire. He said they saved his home.
When asked why they did this, those interviewed said things like, “My parents told me to help people in need” and “these homes are big, which means these people have a lot more to lose than I do” and “my faith tells me to help my neighbor, even if I don’t know them.” This story is a sharp contrast to the hateful rhetoric we often hear from politicians urging us to be afraid of people south of our border – although, not north, which is curious, don’t you think? It is also a reminder of the fact that undocumented people commit far fewer crimes than documented immigrants and native-born Americans. This doesn’t mean that they don’t commit crimes; it means that using that as a reason to keep them out isn’t much of an argument. And yes, people coming here need to be vetted in a timely manner, and criminals should not be allowed to stay. Still, I hope you get my point.
Too often, we make judgments about people based on skin color, language, appearance, and the kind of work they do. We teach our children and each other to fear those things when, really, they are meaningless. The truth about people is that we cannot know who they are by the way they look, but we can know who they are by what they say and do. Jesus knew this, so He told people a story about the Samaritan who helped an injured man when two religious people wouldn’t. Like the bumper sticker on my truck says – be careful who you hate; they might be someone you love. That goes for strangers too.
Prayer – Holy God, cure our bigotry and bias so that we might see Your spark in each other. Amen.