How much deeper can the scar that marks the border become? We have funded a wall between the US and her neighbors to the south. We sponsor drones, military personnel, and a sense of enforced "otherness" that borders on hatred. People used to travel to Mexico for pleasure, and are now deterred by wait times. People used to travel to the US and are now deterred by gunfire and the desert walk. We have forgotten our collective humanity.
Love and ties of family cannot be broken. There is no wall, no trench, no helicopter full of machine guns that will prevent a mother from providing for her children and or a father from being present with them. No construction will deter this drive to maintain family unity. Further militarization only guarantees more deaths.
The border has become a scar. We are the amputated part of the Americas. We have cut ourselves off. We mistreat those who provide our food. Someday we will regret this, as abuse harms both the soul of the abuser and the body of the abused. Someday, when we are hungry, will our neighbors be people of welcome? Will they teach us to grow food? Will they share their clean crops and seeds when we have poisoned ours with GMOs? Will they send us some bees and butterflies? Empires do not last forever. I love my country and I hope the US stays strong by remembering the weak. Yet cutting ourselves off undermines our participation in the global economy and slashes the social fabric of foreign relations.
I am praying for a change of heart the size of an entire political party. I envision a southern border grown of citrus trees. I dream of an orchard that spans the width of several states, trees to feed the hungry, shade to welcome the displaced, and fruits of the earth watered by God when the rain falls down.
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