Owe Nothing, Except to Love

This past winter, I attended a Know Your Rights training led by a statewide immigration coalition. The presentation included information on types of immigration enforcement, people’s rights in different spaces and situations, and how to be prepared.  I attended as a community member looking to support my immigrant neighbors, and I had anticipated others would be there in a similar boat. However, as it turned out, many, if not most, of the people in attendance at this particular training were folks at risk of being targeted, detained, and deported.  

I listened attentively to the information, delivered in both Spanish and English. The attendees had many questions, and it was common that I had to wait for the translation to have an idea of what the question was (my Spanish has gotten rusty).  About an hour into the training, the questions took a pointed focus that was both sobering and devastating.  Many folks in the room asked: What happens if I am arrested while my children are at school? What happens to my kids if I’m not home when they get home? What if I am not there to pick them up from afterschool activities? 

Now, going into the training, I did not consider myself excessively naïve about the concrete realities facing our immigrant neighbors.  So, on one hand, it was not shocking that these questions came up and were of great concern to the folks in the room. On the other hand, that these questions needed to be asked was wrecking. Parents not knowing if they might see their kids at the end of the school day. Kids living with uncertainty about their parents’ safety. It was real – and awful.

In today’s second reading, Paul states “love does no evil to the neighbor.” As I read this, my experience at the Know Your Rights training arose in my mind and heart, perhaps given the sharp contrast between Paul’s message and our neighbors’ experiences. Our neighbors are facing tremendous evils, with profound, life altering impacts. In that room, I felt a mix of enraged, aghast, and bewildered.  As people of faith, care, and compassion, we are directed to “owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another.” At this time on the clock of the world, this love must be all the more fierce and engaged. Today’s reading demands from us not a passive love – but an active, participatory love. 

Regardless of capacity and time, there is something, even if it feels small, each of us can do to demonstrate this love. Learn about the community response networks that exist in your area. Have their number handy so you can report immigration activity. Make a donation to an organization supporting immigrant neighbors. Attend a Know Your Rights training. Be informed about what’s happening in your community. 

To do no evil to our neighbor calls us to show up in the ways we can. The conditions are staggering. Our active, engaged love is ours to harness – for good, for community, for our neighbors. 

Today's Readings