Today is the day that was traditionally commemorated as Columbus Day, when the intrepid navigator sighted land on the Western Hemisphere. We know, of course, how Columbus destroyed the native civilization he found, but it was also the beginning of an incredible migration of Europe to these shores, some seeking freedom, others gold.
Migration is still with us today, with its many consequences, earlier migrants forgetting their own origins, fearing displacement from the newer ones. As a Nation, we have established ourselves and grown, not as a melting pot, as some thought a century ago, but a robust stew which needs constant stirring and the addition of new ingredients.
Migration has affected not only us, but Europe and Asia as well. The really important issue for any society is one of shared values. Recognizing that immigrants share the same basic values as the nations they have immigrated into is critical to success as a new and ethnically mixed society. That is, of course, what America is all about.
Prayer for the Day
Source of our salvation, God of the lion and the lamb,
We pray for a vision and hope for a new and transformed future,
One that is different from the present experience of so many.
May our world be one where welcome becomes the landscape,
And our eyes of our souls see your presence
And the ears of our hearts listen to your voice.
In the name of the One who came to shape us into new creatures,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Virtually all of as Americans trace our ancestry back to immigrants from distant lands, men and women who came to America with a firm willingness to work, asking only freedom.
Ronald Reagan, President (1911-2004)
From her beacon-hand/Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command/The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she with silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Emma Lazarus, from The New Colossus (1839-1887)
For thus says the Lord: I will extend prosperity to her like a river,
And the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;
And you shall nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her knees.
Isaiah 6612-13
We All Came From Somewhere