Wrapping our prayers around the immigration crisis
I live in a city in the United States close to the Mexican border, where immigration has long been a part of daily community life. I’ve benefited from the influx of business resulting from international trade and have enjoyed friendships with those who have come from other countries. But I’ve also been saddened by the human tragedies that have occurred, the illegal drug runners flying unmarked planes low over pastures, and the increasing political attention and divisiveness the immigration issue has engendered.
This issue and other world problems call for prayers that make a difference. Christian Science explains that whatever we realize as true of God and His creation on an individual level is also true of God and His creation on a global scale. It’s not the scale of the problem but the view of God that makes the difference.
Until recently, praying about the immigration crisis just seemed too complex. But the urgency of the situation was brought home to me when violence took the lives of innocent people in El Paso, Texas, where I also have family. I knew I needed to pray about the crisis, but where to start? If I started with the problem, I’d be perpetually overwhelmed. But if I started with God, I could get traction.
To help me glimpse what immigration might mean from a mental and spiritual perspective, I turned to the Bible. In one sense, the Bible can be seen as one long immigration story of a people moved by their search to understand God. In their quest for a homeland, the children of Israel initially searched for a physical place. Centuries later, Christ Jesus revealed that the true “promised land” of God wasn’t a piece of real estate but a heavenly concept. He said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20, 21 ).
In her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, the founder of this magazine, Mary Baker Eddy, writes, “As the children of Israel were guided triumphantly through the Red Sea, the dark ebbing and flowing tides of human fear,—as they were led through the wilderness, walking wearily through the great desert of human hopes, and anticipating the promised joy,—so shall the spiritual idea guide all right desires in their passage from sense to Soul, from a material sense of existence to the spiritual, up to the glory prepared for them who love God” (p. 566 ). It’s this movement of thought from a limited, material sense of life and its possibilities to the understanding of God as Life, as infinite Soul or Spirit, that is key in our prayers for both immigrants and native citizens.
The qualities that make for a good life—such as peace, harmony, freedom, fulfillment, and goodness—are found in God, divine Soul. Everyone has equal access to God, so everyone has equal ability to enter into the “promised land” of God’s complete goodness. No one is left out. It’s not a change in location but a change in thought that ushers us into God’s kingdom.
To human view, it certainly appears that some places have more resources than others. But from a spiritual view, there are no “haves and have-nots.” An understanding of the abundance and ever-presence of God’s goodness helps to open thought to spiritual ideas that can be acted upon to meet every human need.
After college, I worked at an emergency shelter for teens in crisis. From time to time, teenagers from immigrant families would come into our care. One evening when I got to work, I found that a young woman from Mexico had been placed in our care until relatives could be located. Staff had tried since early in the day to console her, but she would not talk to anyone or stop crying. I prayed to recognize that divine Love was present and could meet this young woman’s need for comfort. Later, when I was supervising the girls at bedtime, the young woman motioned for me to come over and asked if I would pray with her. She knew the Lord’s Prayer, so we began to pray in her native language, “Nuestro Padre …”—“Our Father …” (Matthew 6:9 ). The prayer was an acknowledgment that her heavenly Parent was present and transcended borders and languages in wrapping her in divine Love.
That was the end of the crying. Prayer was a turning point in enabling this young woman to feel happy and welcome at the shelter. This began a lovely evening practice of prayer before bed, which the other girls in the dorm enjoyed as well.
Political and religious oppression often causes many to emigrate, but Christ Jesus taught that divine Truth brings freedom. He said, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31, 32 ). Jesus lived in the midst of both political and religious persecution, yet he was the freest man on earth. He proved that it’s not physical circumstances but the spiritual understanding of our relation to God that brings freedom. Knowing that we really are God’s beloved, spiritual sons and daughters living under His supreme, harmonious government can free us from the oppression of limited circumstances. Jesus taught that, more than anything else, it is divine Love that brings us into the “promised land” and enables us to feel at home and experience this freedom wherever we may find ourselves.
Regarding host countries’ concerns over border security, it can be helpful to remember that Jesus taught the need for watchfulness and standing guard over thoughts and actions. In the book of John, Jesus refers to himself as a shepherd standing at the door of the sheepfold, guarding his sheep (see 10:1–15 ). A good shepherd’s watchfulness and protection keep wolves from entering the sheepfold. It’s not people but wolf-like thoughts—hatred, anger, racism, and divisiveness—that are denied entrance into the kingdom of God. Clearing away these impositions on our thinking enables us to discern Christlike intuitions that alert us to danger and keep everyone safe.
Science and Health explains how to do this: “Stand porter at the door of thought,” and “… shut out … unhealthy thoughts and fears” (p. 39 2). It is unhealthy thoughts and fears that lead to hate and violence, but the Bible assures us that “perfect love casteth out fear” (I John 4:18 ). Fear that those coming into a country will diminish opportunities and quality of life for those already living there is neutralized as we understand the economics of perfect, divine Love. Each individual is supplied by God with everything he or she needs for fulfillment. One person’s supply of good doesn’t diminish another’s. Because good is essentially spiritual, there is infinite good, and there are infinite ways God supplies that good.
How prayer plays out practically in human experience can’t be outlined. For some, it may open doors to a new experience in a new country. For others, it may mean finding new purpose and strength—and safety—right where they are.
Strongly held convictions about the right way to respond politically and socially to the immigration crisis can polarize and divide people. But prayer that seeks God’s answers doesn’t promote one political agenda over another. Instead, it brings less stridency and more listening. It enables intelligence rather than emotion to guide us so wise and balanced solutions can be found. And prayer that lifts human thought from fear to love is the power that will bring healing to the underlying troubles causing individuals to leave their homeland, so we can experience a world that is increasingly moved by Love, not fear.
Prayer unites all humanity under the government of one Father-Mother, divine Love. Through prayer we can join the writer of Ephesians in declaring, “Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (2:19 ).
Elizabeth Schaefer
Guest Editorial Writer