A LEAP OF IMAGINATION
For those
of us whose daily tool is no longer a badza or an axe but a laptop, the
first word that pops up when we turn it on is ‘Welcome’! There is a wide
spectrum in which that word occurs. At one extreme, like with the laptop, it is
a function of a business relationship – the equivalent of saying, ‘thank you
for buying our product. Come again!’ But it is the other extreme that we can
explore.
When does
saying ‘welcome’ pass from being a pleasant thing to being one which is
extremely demanding? In holiday time, it is a joy to welcome family and friends
to our home. We prepare a nice room, design pleasant meals and plan some
entertainment for our visitor. We enjoy their enjoyment of our efforts.
There are,
inevitably, some visitors we would rather not receive as they are prickly or
difficult in some way and demand huge patience from us. But still, we rouse
ourselves to make the best of it and hope they do not notice our irritation.
But let us get to the point; there are people who come into our lives who are
going to upset us, not just for a few days, but permanently.
Immigrants
in the past have often been welcomed as they provided labour and initiative.
The United States of America was built on welcoming people fleeing hardship and
persecution in their own countries. Britain’s railways and bridges were often built
by Irish people fleeing hunger and poverty in their own land. It is a sensitive
thing to say, but Zimbabwe too benefited economically for a while from the
‘know-how’ of people from Europe.
But all
these examples carried a downside where the immigrant could be oppressed – or
become an oppressor – in their new country. That was the past. Now we have a
new situation where immigrants the world over are by and large unwelcome.
Countries claim they cannot absorb them and some go to extraordinary lengths to
discourage them. Britain wants to export ‘illegal’ immigrants to Rwanda.
The crisis
points to the huge disparity between rich countries and poor. It also calls for a leap in imagination and
an open heart; a recognition that to welcome another may change my whole life
AND the recognition that this change will benefit ALL of us in the end. How? It
is not obvious. The gospels do not go into details. They simply say, ‘anyone
who looses his life for my sake will find it.’
The rest is up to us. My own little experience was
when I was led to understand that people living with mental disabilities had
desires just like all of us and had their own gifts to share with any one who
would welcome them. 2
July 2023 Sunday 14 A Zech 9:9-10 Rom
8:9-13 Mt 11: 25-30
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