Some reflections about the delegation

It's very windy here in Denver. Tonight, Tyler, Kyle and I (John) are planning to go up to the Boulder area and spend time hanging out and I'm not sure what else. Fun times. It's been great to have a time to rest and relax here at Tyler's house, especially after such a heavy experience as the delegation. I've noticed though how hard it is for me to really rest and reflect, even in such a conducive environment. I really have to be intentional about it, which I think reflects a larger struggle in American culture especially. But anyway, that's beside the point. Here are some of my (admittedly delayed) personal and spiritual reflections about the borderlands delegation we recently returned from.

First off, I realize much more clearly now that the immigration reform bill currently being debated has major problems - as building a bigger wall and increasing the militarization of the border will not stop crossings and more people will die and etc. In earlier blogs, Kyle outlined some of the deeper issues, including NAFTA, corruption in the Mexican government leading to dirt-cheap wages for labor in Mexico, etc. The immigration reform bill seeks to treat the symptoms and does little to address deeper underlying root causes. But throughout the trip I was also faced with questions about the deepest root causes. Thinking about the border wall reminded me of the deeper problems which underlie such a divisive structure and in a very real sense thrust into view the limits of our delegation and other like-minded efforts. In an important sense, all social/governmental reform, symbolic action, protesting, etc. treats symptoms and stops short of dealing with the most foundational issues at the level of human hearts. Social justice, human rights, economic equality (or at least survivability) are all incredibly important, but they cannot become the end-all purposes or final goals. If we do not become the kinds of people for whom peace and rightness are truly possible, little will ultimately change. This quote from Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn encapsulates well some of my thoughts relating to the wall (and for that matter, border patrol agents, ourselves, etc.):
"If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"

Also, I definitely came into this delegation drained and there (understandably) wasn't much down-time on the trip, so at times it was hard to be fully present. I think being slightly withdrawn or putting up a defensive wall of sorts within myself also helped prevent the impact of people's suffering from throwing me into at least partial social nihilism or at least despair. For every family re-united, another is split apart. For every life saved from heat exhaustion in the desert, another succumbs to it. And on the cycle goes. However, I recognize that any sort of nihilism or despair is not a right option, especially if I claim to be a follower of Christ. Nonetheless, it still loomed rather large at times and I think is a danger whenever one is tired - physically, emotionally, spiritually - and also tired of seeing so much wrong in the world and in individual people's lives (including one's own). So, I have been realizing (or trying to) that hope must come from a source that does not begin and end only in this broken world. The frustrating, oft-cliched, and in some situations, entirely unhelpful paradox of Christian hope is that one day things will somehow be restored and made right in spite of the apparent hopelessness; and that because of Christ, God cannot be accused of sitting up in the sky pointing and laughing at humanity's woes - He is involved. Of course, this isn't a lot of comfort to people actually in despair and it's ridiculously easy and even trite to spout off about such nice "Christian" sentiments - but I don't know if there are a lot of other options.

Another thought I had was about the response for followers of Christ to such difficult conditions and situations. While I think a Christian's final hope has to be future-oriented to some degree, one also must not withdraw from the present pain and grime of this world. To do so would be the worst kind of social Gnosticism. One of the biggest problems I have with "Left Behind" eschatology is that practically, I think it encourages (even subtly) an escape mentality. "I'll fly away...," but what about others? Furthermore, there is a related train of thought which detachs the human soul from the whole human person. Christians must have a holistic perspective that recognizes the need for the whole human person to be redeemed. No Platonic dualism allowed. The Incarnation of Christ invites an equally incarnational response from His followers.

A different, but similar question I have also been thinking about a great deal during and after this trip (esp. after meeting several people on the delegation and being challenged by how they lived practically) is how far should we go to extricate ourselves from systems of structual violence that persist all around us - esp. as people with wealth/privilege? To what degree do we attempt to have no part with those systems and rid ourselves of our complicity (which extends into what we eat, what we buy, what we drive, etc.) and when do we throw up our hands and just "live with how things are?" To what level is it possible to "be a good steward" of resources and even use aspects of these broken systems for the good of others and the Kingdom of God and when does that kind of thinking devolve into an excuse to keep living our lives of comfortable apathy and ignorance? I fear the latter is too often the case. However, I also recognize that we cannot completely escape this "fallen" world, that money/possessions are not evil in and of themselves and that as Paul says, "If If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing" (1 Cor. 13 - ESV). Again, deeper, darker problems plague rich and poor alike. I will likely wrestle with these questions for quite some time.

Some last reflections I had on the delegation involve what struck me about those whom we met. Two things in particular really stood out to me - resiliency and family. Resiliency because many people we met had stories about jumping/riding on trains, jumping fences, facing armed bandits and enduring incredible hardship and exhaustion in efforts to get further North. There are no categories for that in my comfortable life (although, that is not to say that I should wish to have to face such dangers or that my own struggles are somehow unimportant or insignificant - you can't quantify suffering). Also, I was amazed in many instances of the importance of family for people south of the border. Nearly everyone was going up north so they could support their families or open up a window of hope for their children. Some people we had met had earlier been in the U.S., but had traveled back to see their families again. These were all incredible sacrifices. The new immigration reform package's "point system" and lack of emphasis on family re-unification is possibly one of the worst aspects of a deeply flawed piece of legislation in my opinion, as family is so incredibly important for so many who are attempting to come north.

Anyway, those are some thoughts I've had during and after the delegation. It was definitely an intense and challenging experience on many levels for me and I know I will continue processing it for some time (hopefully the rest of my life, to some degree).
Many thanks for everyone's prayers and interest.

Blessings,

John Williamson