Sentinel Watch June 13, 2011 Issue

Beyond taking sides on immigration reform

Elizabeth Kellogg

For those living in the United States, the issue of immigration reform is on the front pages once again. President Obama’s May 10 speech in El Paso, Texas, called on the US Congress to take action on immigration reform, and Senator Harry Reid announced the next day that he would reintroduce legislation to the Senate that would provide conditional, permanent residency to deportable students.

From most perspectives, illegal immigration is a problem that is intractable, complex, deeply personal, and highly political. But turning to God in prayer enables us to understand we are the immortal, beloved ideas of infinite Love, God. Then we are no longer satisfied to define people by their country of origin, or to accept the belief that there “isn’t enough to go around.” Reforming our perspective through prayer will help us move forward to find solutions that are just, compassionate, and sustainable.

In one of her sermons, Mary Baker Eddy advised, “Let us remember that God — good — is omnipotent; therefore evil is impotent. There is but one side to good, — it has no evil side; there is but one side to reality, and that is the good side. God is All, and in all: that finishes the question of a good and a bad side to existence” (Christian Healing, p. 10). Here is a starting point from which to quiet two of the noisiest claims that threaten to drown out a solution to the issue of illegal immigration: first, that there is an imbalance of resources and opportunities in God’s kingdom; and second, that political partisanship is insurmountable. The truth is that God’s good is infinite and universally available for the benefit of all mankind. We are all the deeply cherished children of the one loving Father-Mother God.