Unsettled World

A few days ago, one of our parishioners inquired if I would be interested in being interviewed for an immigration project for high school students in the area. Without any hesitation, I readily accepted the invitation and was interviewed this past Tuesday in Old Brick.

The gentleman who interviewed me thought we would be using my office for the interview, but I took him to Old Brick, the little sanctuary on top of the hill, which has seen so much, heard so much, and been a part of so much. If Old Brick had a mouth, what would it tell us about itself, its builders, and every single individual who had walked into that building to seek comfort, solace, hope, renewal, and grace to carry on? But unfortunately, Old Brick has no mouth and so it cannot tell us its story. That is why we must speak for it.

It was a surreal moment, being in that sanctuary, and recounting my own life as an immigrant who got a shot at the American Dream. But it wasn’t lost on me, that many of the people who built the sanctuary were immigrants too-either they or their ancestors were forcibly brought to this part of Maryland where being a part of a community of faith meant that they had to support the building of a church or they and their ancestors voluntarily came to this part of Maryland because of whatever issues that they were dealing with in Europe. But be that as it may, we had immigrants or descendants of immigrants who gathered in Old Brick to worship, and for me, the optics spoke volumes. 

Old Brick itself, like many historical buildings in the US, was built by descendants of immigrants, whether enslaved or free. There has never been a time when immigrants or their descendants have not made significant contributions to the wealth and prosperity of this country. However, all that history is being pushed aside because we now live in an unsettled world where even the most recent events are being whitewashed. As I sat in Old Brick for the interview, it occurred to me that immigrants, whether they arrived legally or illegally, feel unsettled because they can never tell who or what can cause their arrest and subsequent deportation.

As I write this piece, I am acutely aware of the fact that our federal government has been shut down for approximately 27 days. A searing image I saw was one of federal workers lining up at a food bank to pick up food for themselves and their families. How come? What happened? I can only imagine how those who just started working for the federal government might be feeling right now. They haven't had the chance to save up because of other bills, such as car loans, tuition, and utilities, among many others.

As I consider those who haven't saved and those who couldn't save, I am also thinking about those who rely on the federal government for SNAP benefits. How will these people make it if these benefits cease over the weekend?

Although there have been previous government shutdowns, these are particularly challenging times for millions of Americans. The effects of the rise in inflation are felt by those who have the least among us. Whenever I go to the grocery store, pick a few items, and walk to the counter, my eyes are always fixed on the total. I don't want to pay more than I need to. But I am paying more because of inflation. There is an unsettled feeling about even going out to shop for groceries. But we have to eat, and so we swallow the pill and go.

On top of all the dire challenges that people are facing, we turned on our TVs and saw the demolition of the East Wing of the iconic White House. I have never been inside the White House, and I don’t know if I will ever have the opportunity to visit. However, I recall that as an immigrant, one of the first places I visited upon arriving in the United States as a student was the White House. I stood behind the walls with my friends and admired an edifice that I had long dreamed about. It is beautiful, I said to myself. Now, I know where the powerful man on the planet lives. But whichever way you see it, it is a temporary residence, and I have seen five presidents move in and out of the White House.

As I watched the demolished East Wing, I asked myself, "Where in Western Europe would you see one man give permission for one of their iconic buildings to be demolished to make way for a new one?" Nowhere! What surprised me the most was an article I read that there is not even a permit for the construction of a new ballroom. But these are the sort of things that can happen when you live in an unsettled world. People make decisions that serve parochial interests. The downside is that nothing gets settled.

How often do they throw big parties at the White House? How many people attend these parties that we need a ballroom for 900 people? And if we desperately need a ballroom, do we have to destroy part of the building to build a new one? I don’t think so. But here we are, in an unsettled world where one man’s decisions and inordinate desires seem to supersede those of the collective.

In addition to all the headaches we are trying to sort out in our lives and the communities in which we live, we have others who have been busy scamming other folks. A few days ago, a parishioner was scammed by as much as $1200.00. This parishioner believed that an email request was from me, and so, being as faithful as this parishioner was, they responded to the email. When all was said and done, they had lost that much money.

Acts like these add to that general disposition of being unsettled. They create anxiety and mistrust within us and among us. These are the times when we begin to ask ourselves, "Who is it that deserves our trust? Who is it that deserves our sympathy? Who is it that deserves our compassion?" The tearful part is that we can never tell if being vulnerable enough to help is enough reason to be taken advantage of.

It is not the case that we have lived in a world where there were no issues or in a settled world. The world has always had problems. But it is one thing if the problems are man-made, where we see our neighbors’ actions exerting the most harm on others, and it is another if it is an act of nature-like the earthquake which occurred in Columbia and surrounding areas a few days ago or the devastating hurricane that has ripped apart the Caribbean, destroyed life and property and created a humanitarian disaster for the people of Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba, and other countries.

We may not be able to control nature, but we can certainly control the human desire to create disasters and then benefit from them. Naomi Klein calls it Disaster Capitalism.

I’d like to conclude with this quote:

‘Be the reason that someone believes in goodness again. Not because you’re perfect but because you chose to be kind when you had every reason not to. You smiled through your storms. You listened even when your own heart was breaking. You showed up with softness in a world that often isn’t. And maybe, that’s where real strength lies. Being gentle when life gave you every reason to be hard.’

In an unsettled world, we will need people with strength, not machismo, to help settle the world with gentleness. Could you be one of the people we can count on? I pray you are. 

Manny+