Blessings Blog

Today I am thankful for St. Luke's celebration of 30 years as part of the Sanctuary Movement, that we embraced and did not turn away Central Americans seeking asylum from their war-torn homelands in the '80s, and for growing up in this community striving to live out faith and conscience in the face of societal controversy. I give thanks for Pastor Gwin's message that framed Jesus' first years as the ultimate refugee story of fleeing from persecution and depending on gracious hosts for shelter and necessities. "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in." Ultimate humility and ultimate grace.

Christianity as well as any other faith tradition can get politicized, and immigration is one of those issues that is too complicated and gets swept up into a frenzied mess in the political sphere. You are more than welcome to take issue with my faith and my politics and how they intersect. Let's have a respectful discussion. All that I want is for all of God's children to have a safe place to live and enough to eat and to drink. Simple enough right? And yet we stray from our purpose and make it all the more complicated, making the solution elusive at best. May we remember the flow of people, and especially of migrants and refugees, is not just an issue of politics. It is an issue of resources, of community, of justice, and of humanity.

And for lighter things, I'm thankful for the most picturesque scene I've seen in quite some time. Ninety percent of today was one of those blah early winter days where moisture in the air hangs low to the ground, blocking all sun and permeating the air with however one could describe an odor of sogginess with a slight smokiness, the awkard precursor to the actually refreshing after-rain smell. The forecast called for sun, and it looked like rain, but it just hung out confused and in between those two. Anyways, as my friend and I were driving east into Minneapolis on 94, I couldn't not interrupt my friend's story (with as much tact as possible). "I'm sorry, but, but, just look at that!" A strip of sunlight with a soft, uneven edge like handmade paper torn by hand extended from behind St. Mary's basilica diagonally up towards the right, streaming through the fog and highlighting the steeple.

Do I ever wish I weren't driving. Do I ever wish I had my camera. Do I ever wish that lasted more than three seconds before my Civic descended into the 94 tunnel and that scene was lost. But it was glorious for that moment.

I'm thankful for a friend who I realized uses "I'm so lucky that..." "I'm so fortunate that..." "I'm so glad that..." etc. in her vocabulary incessantly. I'm thankful that she wanted to join me at the last minute to do some holiday shopping at a fair trade fair. And I'm thankful for not being pressed for time and for the opportunity to talk world travels and world politics over bubble tea and dark chocolate truffles.