romain de l'ecotais - border film
notes from the land under a perfect sun
I am a husband, father, writer, artist, musician and Christian. I reside in my hometown San Diego, CA. I am co-founder of the Ecclesia Collective, an instigator behind Make Something Day, part of an intentional/missional community affectionately called, Hawthorn House, a Fuller Seminary student and am employed by First Presbyterian Church of San Diego.
This is my personal blog, which is licensed under a noncommercial Creative Commons License.
All opinions are my own. Don't blame anyone else who associates with me.
My resume can be viewed here.
Filed under
immigration
la posada recap
via flickr.com
My friend, Emily, took photos at La Posada Sin Frontera today. It was quite a somber celebration in many ways–though I'm deeply grateful to all of those that put so much effort into organizing it. The road was closed, as it has been in some years past due to rain, which kept some folks away. And only 25 people were allowed into the monument area at a time, at 30 minute slots. Only two groups were allowed total. It felt more like prison visitation than the festive celebration it has been in previous years. Still, we celebrated our common life in Christ and this region and it was beautiful for that alone.
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border crossing as biblical
via keeponcrossin.comReading from Isaiah 19.18-25 this morning, and was struck by v. 23-35 specifically:
"At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. At that time Israel will be the third member of the group, along with Egypt and Assyria, and will be a recipient of blessing in the earth. The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, 'Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, Israel!'"
This morning, I'm asking myself what this means for one living on the border such as I do? The passage–which is today's Advent reading–says that these people from various place are all God's people. The people of different nations pass back and forth across their borders to worship God together. Border crossing is more complicated in my world. Without proper documents, it is illegal. But should not the trade agreements such as NAFTA–enforced on one nation by another, that throw the enforced nation into deeper property poverty–be considered illegal as well? At least inhumane. There is within in this passage an assumption that all people have worth before God. This is not the same assumption where I live. Some people have more worth than others.
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volleyball on the san diego tijuana border
Sadly even something this innocent is no longer allowed
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800 Mile Wall
via 800milewall.org
"The 800 Mile Wall documents, in great detail, the ineffective and deadly results of a failed border policy and offers some thoughts and on how the current human rights crisis may be resolved. Directed by John Carlos Frey and Produced by Jack Lorenz. Running Time: 90 min."
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Friendship Park Access Not Enough
via kpbs.org
My friend, John Fenastil shares what we've experienced when serving communion at Friendship Park and why we believe what we have now is not enough. More on John's work here: http://www.foundation4change.org/
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welcome to the prison called, mexico
Photo credit: Maria Teresa Fernandez (view more here)
If you have not heard, the redesign of Friendship Park has been completed. It is disappointing. No human contact is allowed to be made through the fences and only 25 people at a time are allowed up to the monument. It looks more like a prison set up, or cattle coral than the beautiful memorial it once was. My greatest concern continues to be what the continued actions and policies of the Department of Homeland Security and Border Patrol do that insinuate an inherent illegal nature of people of Latin American descent. Some have said, that this an exaggeration. To those, I say, you are blind, naive or ignorant. This is what has happened and continues to. We are held captive by our own mindset. I am primarily concerned with how Christians engage this issue in San Diego.Visit FriendshipPark.org and consider joining the vigil on Monday (information on the site) and partnering with Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform in changing the tide. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah explains how this captivity I spoke of above happens very well in the video below (specifically 7:00 and on):
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MWR column
"For Anabaptists, immigration is part of our history. Many Mennonites can look to their family heritage to see the story of a people who were continually moving from one part of the world to another, seeking a place for their peculiar way of Christianity to be accepted. Our immigrant story gives us a unique affinity to the New Testament term, “strangers and aliens.” At the beginning of John’s Gospel, we read that the Word was with God yet came to live among us in order to redeem us. One might say the Word immigrated to Earth from heaven. Jesus was an immigrant.We follow a God who stoops down, becomes like us, serves us and saves us. And this same God in Jesus beckons us to follow him. What does it look like to follow the immigrant Jesus? To mimic his life within our own?"Read the rest
Would appreciate your feedback either here or at MWR.
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