FRIDAY - SATURDAY - FEBRUARY 2 AND 3

 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND, 2024  GROUNDHOG’S DAY

Happy Groundhog Day

An old myth that if a groundhog sees his (her) shadow today, there will be six more weeks of winter.  It comes from the “Pennsylvania Dutch” area (which, as I understand it, “Dutch” probably is “Deutsch” - that is German).

We are a nation of immigrants (other than native Americans).  Even now, there are many immigrants at our Southern Border crossing the Rio Grande River (which can be pretty shallow in places) and into the United States.

The English came to America - for new ventures and sometimes for religious freedom.  Then others - Irish with the potato famine, Germans during the bloody unification of Germany, Italians, and Eastern Europeans.

The southern plantations needed workers - so there was an “immigration” of people from Africa.  (Immigration might not be the right term - as greedy slave traders met the demand for workers by hijacking people from around the coast and shipping them across the Atlantic).

On the West Coast, laborers were needed to build the railroads to the rest of the country, so Chinese workers were imported.  

*****

Like the Pennsylvania Dutch, they brought their customs and values with them.  

In my area of the United States, there have been many people of Hispanic heritage.  It is rare to go to my local Walmart and not hear what sounds like Spanish being spoken.  (Not knowing Spanish, it can be hard to tell, but my guess is that they are speaking Spanish).

Many Hispanic families speak Spanish at home - and in schools, they are generally expected to speak English.  

The United States has been called a “melting pot” - a place where people of various backgrounds can come.  

There are great things with such cultural differences.  There are thousands (not sure) of great Mexican restaurants in the Austin area, plus Chinese, Thai, Italian, and other cultural foods.  We generally like the traditions and foods that come from these traditions.

Emma Lazarus stated this aptly in the poem “The New Colossus”

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. 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!”

This poem is written on the tablet held by the “Lady of the Lamp”- the Statue of Liberty.  

The Statue of Liberty is a sign of welcome to those arriving in the United States.  

I like the term “Mother of Exiles” in the poem.  As far as I know, my ancestors were “exiles.” Maybe not quite “exiled” - but came looking for a better life.

Sure, some were exiles.  Some may have had criminal backgrounds.  (Even the Pilgrims were sent out from England for not being accepted by the English Church).  But, the majority were good people - seeking a new life here.

*****

In my teaching - especially at the University of Texas - I had students from many backgrounds wanting to get an education and join in the American Dream of a house, garage with two cars, 2.4 children (I’m not sure how 0.4 children exist), a good job and even paying taxes.

Yes, give us your tired and your poor - your huddled masses yearning to be free.

*****

But (like previous immigration), the newcomers are not welcomed with “open arms”.  The whispered comments of “They are going to take our jobs away” still exist.  The “news” sometimes labels the people at the border as criminals.  Are they?  There might be a small percentage, but I sense that many of those people at the border are like my ancestors - wanting a new life, a good life, a prosperous life in this country.  

And, instead, “we” (well - somebody) put razor wire in the river to cut and hurt those immigrants, “we” have erected a wall to keep these homeless, wretched people out of our “paradise.” 

Are we “playing God” by deciding who gets in and who doesn’t?  Are not those families - children included - looking for the “Lady with the Lamp.”

Maybe we need to erect a new Statue of Liberty at Eagle Pass, Texas (and El Paso and other places) - and welcome them in.  

I don’t want to judge people - but aren’t “we” as a nation judging these people as “unfit” to be American citizens?  

(And, we seem to be judging the boy who believes he is in the wrong body, the girl who wants to be a boy, or the two men who love each other?)

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

“BELOVED LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER, FOR LOVE IS OF GOD.” I John 4:7

Karen Anne White, February 2, 2024