Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me [Immigration]

"Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me...(KJV)"

by Keith Thomas

Sending children away for their protection, safety or chance for a better life isn't new. It has happened from time immemorial. It happens during good times and bad. It happens during hardship. The children are innocent. There is no presumption of guilt in their regard.

I have always been humbled by the courage of a young pregnant mom who makes the decision to give up her baby for adoption because it's what is best for the child. She places the welfare of her child first, before self. At times the young mom knows where the child will be going, at others not. She trusts that the system and hands of others will do their best to find the child a good and secure home.

There isn't any way that I can imagine what it must feel like for any parent to send their children on a dangerous journey. Often in desperation they send their precious children to the United States of America for the mere chance at a better life than they could ever provide. They send them on a journey fraught with the unknown and danger, to us, in the hope that their beloveds will be cared for by the people of a nation that claims to be founded in Christian belief. They send us their children! Us!

They are perfectly described:

"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-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

            Poem on the Statue of Liberty in its entirety written by Emma Lazarus

Throughout my life I have heard that the children are our hope for the future.

But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. (Luke 18-16 KJV)

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.  (Psalms 127:3-5 ESV)

What is taking place in our country right now in regard to children coming across our southern border is, to use a much over-worked word, truly an abomination and a disgrace to what this nation is supposed to stand for in terms of humanity, regardless of religious belief. I am not going to use the word immigrant in describing these children. Children are without nationality. Even accompanied the children are not guilty of any wrong doing.

We should accept these children as gifts of undefinable value. We should accept them with humility. We should accept them with gratitude and strive as hard as possible to be worthy of the trust that was placed in us, in our nation, to do right by them.

If we think that they are sick then we should provide them with treatment. They need a safe haven, not a warehouse, to sleep in. We should feed them. We should take care of them as if they were our own. They should be met not with fists and shouts of anger but with love. When they grow to maturity they will remember how they were treated. They will know if we lived up to the expectations represented by the lady in the harbor. History will remember. God already knows.