In my faith tradition, we are called to welcome the stranger and extend hospitality. Welcoming the stranger is also part of the civic tradition in the United States, exemplified in the Emma Lazarus poem on the base of the Statue of Liberty in the New York Harbor, although I must admit that we as a country often fail to live up to our highest ideals.
I was heartened to hear, however, that a meeting called to see if there were people interested in aiding the re-settlement of Syrian refugees in our area was so crowded with local folks wanting to help that they had to expand the meeting room to accommodate them all.
Our Greater Binghamton (New York) community has a long history of welcoming refugees and is an official re-settlement area. Over decades, there have been refugees here from diverse countries, such as Laos, Ukraine, and Iraq. It would be an honor for some of the Syrian refugees who have suffered so much to find a new home here with us as well.
I get a bit choked up thinking about new refugees arriving because one of the main organizations that will help them is the American Civic Association, which suffered a mass shooting as few years ago. Despite that, they continue to do great work, welcoming the stranger, helping them to learn English, teaching them about the United States, and helping them create a new home here.
I truly appreciate their work and their example of what “welcoming the stranger” really means.
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Linda’s prompt for this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: strange/stranger/strangest. Join us! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2015/10/30/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-3115/
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This is such a lovely reflection, Joanne. Thank you. It’s why I continue to ‘visit again’ with John Caputo’s inspiring little book, What Would Jesus Deconstruct, in which he shares the origin of the ‘what would Jesus do’ question … ‘welcoming the stranger’ features prominently. You’ve given an example here. Blessings, Jamie
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Sending blessings to you, too, Jamie. I was just thinking, with All Saints’ Day being tomorrow, about how saints are often great exemplars of welcoming the stranger, leading to the realization that the communion of saints includes us all, both the living and the dead, and that, in that communion, there really are no strangers. (An example of stream of consciousness commenting!)
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Welcoming the stranger is a tradition in many faiths. It is great to hear about your community welcoming refugees. I was thinking of a way I do it in my community. I do literacy tutoring at the Adult Literacy Center. Our students are usually from other countries and need help with their English. They learn about our culture through us and we learn about their culture as well.
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Thanks, Deborah, for sharing your story of welcoming and helping others. I’m sure it is much appreciated. Keep up the good work!
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Great post in answer to the prompt. I hope they do arrive and life takes a positive turn for them.
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Thanks, Tric. I know there will be quite a wait and a lot of paperwork before any arrivals, but our community is preparing for the welcome.
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How brilliant that your community is welcoming Syrians. I wish there was more places like this.
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We know it will be a long process, but we hope that Syrians will be able to find a new, peaceful home here.
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It is great that you are opening your community in this way. Hopefully that will happen in my community too.
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Yes, there are hopes for your community and many, many others. The need is so great.
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It’s wonderful that there are communities and organizations out there who help those in need. Keep up the good work, Joanne! 🙂
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I hope that it will work out. The need is so great.
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