A Commitment to Learn

It’s World Refugee Day on Wednesday, and so I’ve been thinking of my Vickery Meadow girls an extra bunch. You might see a few posts from me this week about all I’m learning here, about what’s been on my heart and mind in this recent season of serving in Dallas’ refugee district.

In a similar vein, I’m also thinking of the immigrant children at the border, of all that is messy & complicated & beautiful, shattering before us. I want to be a part of the mending.

At church on Sunday, we grouped together in two's and three's - I kneeled next to strangers and held their hands, and we prayed with sweaty palms for the children at the border, and their families, and our government, and the church. I felt proud of my church, and a little amazed, and a little nervous too. I like to walk right at the edge of what is comfortable, and truly, I know so little about politics, about all that is complex and polarizing and distant. But this thought keeps pounding through too - that I used to know so little about paying taxes, or renting a house, or writing out excel formulas, or dissecting business cases. And yet, I chose to learn, and I stayed engaged, and I reached out to ask questions. Surely, I am capable of learning, and any excuse centered around a lack of knowledge may be a direct cop-out, something false and flimsy.

And so, since I want to be true instead, I’m resolving here to not keep sitting in apathy. Some steps: I checked out books from the library. I messaged a friend directly affected by our border policies and asked to hear her story. I added reminders to pray. Typing out that list feels so trivial, insignificant. But it symbolizes to me something greater: a resolution that claiming ignorance is no longer acceptable right here.

I don’t know much - only that to walk through trauma and to lose one’s home and to lose one’s family is something to which I want to say, “Not on my watch.” Not here. Not now. I’m making a commitment to learn, and then step forward, and then learn some more. Would you join me?