Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven.
Do we really, as Americans, want the world to see our works
at this moment in history? One wonders. Some thoughts:
For those of us who may have wondered about the line
"the oranges are packed in their creosote dumps" from the Woody
Guthrie classic "Deportee," may I offer this? I read recently that
the orchard owners used to make the migrant workers throw damaged fruit into
creosote-filled tanks so they couldn't eat them or take them to their families.
In light of this week’s news, I thought about that song, the
Sermon on the Mount, shining lights, and oranges. In case one has been
hiding under a bushel with her or his light, last week in Mississippi, federal
agents stormed workplaces in seven cities in that state, and loaded up about
680 employees whom they claimed were undocumented immigrants. The agents
arrested and tased at least one US citizen.
The raids occurred on Wednesday, less than a week after a
white supremacist, targeting “Mexicans,” killed 22 people at a Walmart in El
Paso, Texas.
I won’t mention that over 300 workers in Mississippi have
been released as they were citizens or documented workers. This probably won’t
help them according to The Guardian newspaper.
Citing a spokesman, The Guardian reported, “But even
if they have been released, they cannot go back to work because the plant is
going to say, ‘No. We don’t want any problems any more.’”
Even if they could, the parents who were not at work at the
time of the raids are afraid of going back to work. Not all parents were
released, and if another raid happened at the facility, or another workplace,
it could leave more children with neither parent.
What we may find amazing, in light of the Galilean’s
teachings, is that none of the employers of these supposedly illegal workers
was arrested for illegally hiring them.
“Say what?” I can almost hear the Galilean asking. “Doesn’t America
know that I am shining my light on it?”
See, sometimes the most frightening thing happens. That is
when the far left and the far right of the political spectrum join forces.
Holy teamwork.
It happened with mental patients, the ones roaming our
nation’s streets homeless and, sometimes, violent. The far right wanted to
close the mental institutions, perhaps to have more money to spend on wars. My
friends at the ACLU, in their zeal, made it legally impossible to retain folks
in mental institutions if they were stable when medicated.
Oh brother. Unfortunately, no one is available on our
streets to make sure the medications are taken. When the light of the world
shines on the huddled and hungry, we exonerate ourselves by saying, “Oh, they
are just homeless veterans.”
Groan. The Galilean knows the truth.
Now, about those who knowingly employ undocumented workers.
It seems that politicians on the Left don’t want putative laws passed because
it would make in harder for immigrants to find employment.
Politicians on the Right don’t want laws that would affect owners
who illegally hire undocumented workers because the owners …well … because the
owners support right-wing politicians who block laws that might hurt profits, even for some owners
high in the political food chain.
What does it have to do with the Galilean? I repeat: Didn’t
he say:
Neither
do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it
giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven.
What does it have to do with oranges? Oh, it just made me
think of how much the inhabitants of the village next to our base in Da Nang
craved oranges for their children.
It made me think of how our mess hall provided all the
oranges we wanted, shipped in through our ports.
It made me think of how some sailors would bring a blouse
full of oranges, after breakfast or lunch, to the towers where they stood guard
across from the village.
It made me think of how the sailors would tease the mothers
by holding up an orange and then sailing it bursting onto the ground.
It made me think of how the mothers would gather up the
scraps of oranges and go back into the villages to their families.
It made me think of how cruelty and bigotry are not individual
weakness among a percentage of Americans. They are systemic and passed through
generations. That percentage seems to be growing. It makes me think of how the
light of the world is shining now as others watch us, and we watch ourselves.
If we stay still, and listen as well as see, we might hear
the Galilean weep.
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| Will it shine again? |
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