Article May 7, 2018 Issue

‘Refugee is not a profession’

Anni Ulich

For a number of weeks this message was displayed on big posters hanging in many places here in Berlin. I think it was meant to draw people’s attention to the fact that becoming a refugee is not something people choose, or look forward to; it is usually the unhappy result of having fled unbearable circumstances such as war, corrupt governments, or religious persecution. Very often refugees fear for their lives and those of family members, and have been forced to leave behind all their belongings, their homes and friends, their places of work, and their native countries.

The last few years we have been hearing heartbreaking accounts of what people have had to do to escape such conditions and find safety and stability. For instance, thousands have endured harsh weather conditions and constant privation crossing the Mediterranean in small, inadequate boats in search of a new home.

Whenever I hear these stories, I yearn for a sense of peace and for a solution to this ongoing humanitarian crisis across the globe. And I am reminded of these words from the Christian Science Hymnal, which bring me great comfort:

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