At the Border

I just finished the book take this bread , quite a page-turner autobiography by Sara Miles. Her life moved from being raised an atheist, to becoming a lefty student in Mexico, a journalist in Nicaragua, a restaurant cook in New York City, and then a Christian convert in San Francisco, immersed in feeding people. She launches a food pantry in a church there to care for the homeless and hungry, taking seriously Christ’s message to his followers to “feed my sheep.” In so doing, she finds herself in a journey of self-discovery seeking to understand what it means to be in communion with others. She realizes that sharing food with everyone else is a calling for her and that it is a sacramental act, making Jesus real - for herself, for those she touches, and for those who touch her. Over the years, I’ve met and gotten to know a good many people like Sara who are motivated, even driven, to walk, not just talk, their deep-set spiritual beliefs and world view. I myself feel spiritually ...

A fellow peace pilgrim and pastor once asked me, “Where do you find your ritual?” I had to pause and think about that. Having been raised in the Catholic Church, which is laden with altars, vestments, prayers, songs, processions, candles, incense, standings up, kneelings, and all that, I figured I didn’t have any ritual in my life these days. And his question made me wonder – is that something I’m missing out on? Should I get some of that, for the sake of my spiritual health? Doing this accompaniment work with refugees on the border here is starting to feel like a daily ritual. Especially in the cold semi-dark of dawn. We don our vests imprinted on the back with the words “ Apoyo a Migrantes. ” We leave the refuge of the Migrant Resource Center, locking it as we go. We walk pretty much silently to the tent on the wall next to the port of entry and awaken our brothers and sisters and the ninos there with a greeting and invitation – “ Hola! Buenos dias! Quieres ir al cent...

They are going to tear out some of the beautiful cottonwood trees along the San Pedro River because of the ridiculous and obscene wall Trump insists on building. In a land of vast arid desert, this precious river oasis has been protected for years through the auspices of the San Pedro Raparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA), providing shelter and life for much plant and animal life. Now, habitat for up to 21 threatened and endangered species will be disrupted and migration impeded. Scott Feldhausen, a BLM Gila District manager says that especially the jaguar, ocelot, Mexican wolf, Mexican long-nosed bat, and Mexican spotted owl may be impacted by the lighting and physical barrier being built. He wrote in a report: “This unique ecological landscape provides a home to over 250 migrating bird species, 10 species listed under the Endangered Species Act as either threatened or endangered, 12 BLM sensitive species and 28 species of greatest conservation need.” Feldhausen al...

 Up on D Hill, you can see all around this valley in a 360 degree panorama that includes Agua Prieta/Douglas, the sprawling desert scrub lands leading up to the far away mountains, and the road out to where the new section of the barrier wall is being built. It’s the perfect place for a big tower full of high definition zooming cameras and and fleet of border patrol cars. As I walked up the road to the hill, I was passed by at least a half dozen border patrol cars, vans, paddy wagons, and at one point a convoy of camouflage-painted step vans with camouflage-dressed armed men huddled inside. A plane flew low overhead. And as I looked out from the hill, I could see the miles and miles of the wall stretching across the landscape like a scar. I couldn’t see, but know about, the many motion detectors hidden all over the valley. The other day we spotted a surveillance blimp in the distance. There are checkpoints on the roads. The desert itself is used as a weapon. ...

There is a prayer service every Tuesday evening at the Agua Prieta port of entry, U.S. side, led by the Presbyterian service organization Frontera de Cristo . Local and visiting peacemakers and caregivers come together to remember and raise up the migrant lives lost in the crossing of the desert and to bear witness to the hope for a more humane world. The service begins right before sunset with a procession down the street that leads into Mexico. Each person carries a cross with a person’s name and dates of birth and death on it. One by one, names are called out and the crosses are held up to the oncoming traffic while the group responds in unison, “Presente!” The crosses are then laid down on the curb and the process repeats itself until the place of vigiling is reached, right by the entrance into Mexico. This evening, 33 people participated in the service, placing some 240 crosses on the curb for the line of traffic to pass by. The group then gathers in a circle, passing...

Wonderland of Rocks. That’s the old name for the Chiricahua National Monument in Southeast Arizona. It’s otherworldly, like Bryce Canyon in Utah or the Badlands in South Dakota. Hiking through them gave me the feeling of being in a sacred place and made me think about the massive and wondrous geologic history of the earth and about the Apaches who used to live here. The nutshell history: The Apaches were fierce warriors and resisted Spanish colonization beginning in the 1500s. Then, after Mexican independence in 1821, they resisted the flood of Mexican migrants coming to their territory from the south.   Then came the U.S. with its settlers and calvary. In 1886, Geronimo surrendered to the U.S. and the Apaches were “relocated” to reservations in Oklahoma and New Mexico. And we know what has happened after that. I call Cochise and Geronimo to mind. Presente! Being here in the midst of the US militarization against immigrants, I remember the historical context ...