By: Curt Williams
It takes forever to get a table at one of your favorite restaurants. And after getting seated it takes forever for the waitress to take your order. You grow frustrated waiting for your food to arrive, and when it finally gets to your table, the entrée is cold.
You’re tempted to vent on the waitress, as she’s the only one available and accessible, but is she to blame?
You arrive early to the airport only to be informed by the check-in agent that your flight is delayed. You arrive at the gate and hear an announcement that your flight is now being cancelled. You join a long line of angry passengers, waiting to speak to a harried gate agent in hopes of getting on a later flight.
You’re tempted to vent to the airline employee, as they are the only one available and accessible, but are they to blame?
Frustrated, I walked into a gas station today to retrieve a paper receipt for the overpriced gas that I just pumped, as the printer in the pump was out of paper. As I was leaving, I held the door for a young Hispanic mother with four small children. Yes, I may be assuming, and I may be stereotyping, but I would guess that she and her kids are just five of the hundreds of thousands of immigrants that have flooded across our southern border in the last couple of years in hopes of realizing the elusive American dream. They were all wearing mismatched, tattered clothing and yet the kids had the excited buzz that most kids have when entering an establishment that hosts loads of sugary snacks and sodas. Though young, the mom looked worn and tired. As I walked out to my car, I felt the gentle tug of the Holy Spirit. I pulled some cash from my pocket and went back inside. Away from the eyes of her kids, I slipped the money into her hand. She looked into my eyes and uttered a heartfelt, “Thank you.”
I cannot imagine the courage that she has, or the fear she faces every day, or the indignation she must endure from so many. I admire her.
I am a conservative, but I am not heartless. I am for a secure border and yet I am also for a much more liberal immigration system that can offer those willing to work hard an opportunity to thrive and chase their dreams.
Often, we cannot get to those who are to blame. The waitress, the ticket agent, and the desperate immigrants are not to blame. Those that are to blame are the cowards that hide in the shadows, insulated from accountability and free from accessibility.
In this season, those who we want to blame are the ones in need of our understanding and our patience.
Our Gospel is an interesting amalgamation of personal responsibility and compassion. These days our political parties want us to believe that we can either have one or the other, but not both. Yet the tension of walking out both elements is the heart of the Gospel message. Both elements are desperately needed and both elements are sadly in short supply.
Today, how can you seriously heighten your own personal responsibility while also being radically compassionate?
That is the challenge that I am placing before myself, and I hope that many of you will join me in this lifelong quest.
