The Lessons of Pentecost
By Noel Castellanos
This past Sunday, churches across the globe celebrated Pentecost, the day we as Christians mark the arrival of the Holy Spirit after the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ. As I have considered the significance of this time in history and this moment in ours, I am drawn to a place of reflection, resilience and hope.
For I Was a Stranger
By Ethan Tan
On November 9, 2016, I rode the regional rail to my grad school class. People cried on the train, on the street, in class. Instead of the usual lecture and discussion on social policy, our professor presided over a group therapy session where we were all stupefied at the prospect of a Trump presidency.
Celebration and Suffering
By Sarah Quezada
My cell phone rang while I was at work. I picked it up and closed my office door. “My mom called,” my fiancé Billy told me, his voice small and quiet. “She and my dad were denied visas for the wedding.”
I sat silently for a moment, stunned.
Thank You…And My Name Is Sally
By John Seel
Over the course of the next few weeks the fate of DACA recipients—the “Dreamers”—hangs in the balance. When interviewed about these developments on the nightly news, Dreamers lament being seen and used as a political football.
Why We Need More Curiosity and Grace
By Megan Staub
I moved from Pennsylvania to South Carolina two weeks before a major, evacuation-inducing hurricane and five weeks before last year’s presidential election.
I discovered that there’s nothing like a natural disaster to create camaraderie among strangers.
A Prayerful Embrace: CSA Joins in a National DACA Action
By John Seel, Ph.D.
When rejection is the overwhelming context, being treated as a political ping-pong only aggravates the sentiment. Such is the day-to-day reality of DACA dreamers, who don’t need partisan debate as much as a group hug.
What If Our Border Walls Keep Out Mary and Baby Jesus?
By Maryada Vallet
She walks the dusty trails until her ankles swell and her back pulsates in pain. Her womb, distended in the eighth month of pregnancy, slows her down, yet also gives her an almost transcendent determination.
A Reflection on the RubyWoo Pilgrimage
By Nikki Toyama-Szeto
“Where do you find the courage?” one woman asked from the front row. She posed the question to Ruby Sales, a historic leader in the Civil Rights movement. Ruby Sales began her work for the movement in the South, in a time when it was dangerous for her even to buy a soda from a whites-only convenience store.
Strangers, Angels, and Undocumented Immigrants
By R.H.
I Was An Undocumented Immigrant
It is a curious thing, the border—a fence, a few feet high, made of scrap metal, and with two different realities on each side. It divides everything, and it divides nothing.
Why I #PrayforDREAMers
By James K. P. Williams
On September 5, the American Immigration Policy known as DACA—Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals—was rescinded by President Donald Trump. Originally created to remove immigration enforcement from an estimated 1.7 million “low priority” individuals, DACA protected around 800,000 people