Perspective

I was going to write about this being the last day of my twenties. About how hard it can be to get older. And then I heard from Ben that one of our closest friends here just got arrested. This the second friend to get arrested this month. Sounds like I might need to rethink who these friends of mine are. Maybe I am hanging out with the wrong crowd. Oh yeah, his crime, being Latino and driving without a license. Kinda makes my whoas about turning 30 seem very petty.

This just makes me so mad. Why does this have to happen? Why haven't our laws changed? Over the course of this year I've had my eyes opened to just how wrong our immigration policies are. If life was good in Mexico, if they could have been able to provide for their families, they wouldn't have left. But they had to, you could say they were pushed out of their country.

Our country has plenty. Our country is not only wealthy, we are wasteful. We have so much we can afford to get rid of the extra. Just yesterday I was thinking I might need to pack up some of my things and take them to Goodwill. There are millions of people who would gladly take my extra, the things that aren't good enough for me anymore. And yet what do we do to those who already have so much less then us. Fine them and throw them into jail.

Two weekends ago Dustin, Jamie, and about 8 others, all Latino, from LaGrange took a 17+ hour bus trip to DC to participate in an immigration rally/march. They said about 500,000 marched to the Capitol. I wish I would have gone. People like me need to be at these rallies, people like me who can have a voice for the voiceless. This week Anton is leading a Holy Week Pilgrimage for Immigrants through Atlanta and the surrounding areas.

Sometimes I forget about the hardships our friends here face. This month we have celebrated birthday's, shared meals, hung out.. things you do with your friends and family. This is a sobering reminder of why I am here. We are here to build relationships and share Christ, but we are also here to be a voice for those who aren't being heard. I hope Arturo is bonded out soon. He has to be there for my party tomorrow. It wouldn't be right if he wasn't.