We Are All Immigrants, the Pilgrim People of God
May 4, 2010 by O'Meara Ferguson
Filed under Daniel Conway, News, O'Meara Ferguson News
From Dan Conway’s The Good Steward, May 2006
People who travel from one place to another in search of a new earthly home and a better life are called immigrants. People who wander from place to place in search of their spiritual homeland, and a better way of living, are called pilgrims. Every baptized Christian is a pilgrim on a journey to the better world that is to come. Every one of us is an immigrant in search of our final resting place, our heavenly home. The debate that is raging today over immigration reform would benefit from this fundamental spiritual perspective: None of us “owns” the land we live in or the turf we protect so jealously. We are stewards, not owners, of this land and this nation. It is true we are a nation of laws. These must be respected. And it’s true that we have to have borders (physical and cultural boundaries) that safeguard our identity and protect us from those who would do us harm. But we are stewards of this great land, not owners in any absolute sense. The God who gave us this place asks us to do two things as his stewards (caretakers, custodians or guardians). He asks us to care for this land and its people. He asks us to share our abundant blessings with others.
Immigration reform should not be about race or economic or social status. It should be about the stewardship of our nation — taking care of and sharing the incredible gifts that we have all received as temporary residents of this earthly homeland. Immigration reform should not be about politics or privilege. It should be about helping one another to find our true dignity and our ultimate destiny as fellow pilgrims journeying toward God.
As a pilgrim people, we know what it means to be homeless, to be on the way to a better life and a new world. As disciples, we know that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. We are called to follow him – the one who had nowhere to lay his head, the one who wandered from place to place until the Father called him home …
