The look on this man's face haunts me. He is a refugee, fleeing from violence in Syria, doing everything in his limited power to protect his children. I don't know him and I don't know his story, but I feel his pain. I have two children whom I love deeply and passionately. I would do anything I possibly could to insure their safety and well-being. I cannot imagine the pain of uprooting them from everything they have ever known, the agony of knowing they might starve to death, or be killed by bombs or gunfire, or drown trying to escape. It hurts me to look at this photo and put myself in this man's place.
And it sobers me to realize that when I look into his face, I am seeing the face of Jesus Christ, who completely identifies with him in his anguish. According to Matthew's Gospel, Jesus himself was a refugee when he was an infant. According to all the Gospels, Jesus cares for every person who suffers, regardless of race, nationality, or religion. And Jesus is the human face of God.
Our nation's political situation is volatile, and people are expressing a wide range of emotions as our government responds to the refugee crisis -- and it is a crisis, a terrible human tragedy. I don't know what will happen on the national level, but I am so grateful for the work of our parish's international outreach ministry which continues to partner with the International Rescue Committee to help resettle a refugee family here in Charlottesville. We raised $4,633 at our silent auction this fall to do that work, and representatives from the IRC will be orienting and training COOS volunteers in coming weeks. We don't know when that family will arrive, but we intend to be ready to assist them in every way we can whenever they do come.
As we do this ministry, we know that some 70,000 people who have undergone extensive vetting in order to resettle in this country are now being stranded, and the majority of them are women and children. We all hear the fear that is being expressed by some, the fear that offering safe haven to refugees will endanger us, but the Cato Institute has calculated that the chances of being killed by a refugee are one in 3.6 billion. In other words, we are more likely to die from our own clothes lighting on fire than we are to be killed by a refugee. And regardless of the odds, we are followers of Jesus, who tells us not to be afraid as we do whatever is good and right and loving. And if we can't do everything, we most certainly can do something. And what we can do, we are going to do.
Please pray for this ministry. Please pray for our elected leaders. And please pray for refugees everywhere, remembering that they are fellow human beings who love and dream and hurt and bleed just like us.
Love, love, always love,
David Stoddart +
Rector
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