A Statement on Immigration and the Misuse of Scripture

Dear Senator _____ / Representative ______ ,

My name is Dave Clark. My address is 208. S. Brady, Attica, IN 47918. I am one of your constituents.

I am appalled, saddened and angered by the treatment of our undocumented neighbors at the border. This policy of separating minors and babies from parents and criminally charging the vulnerable is cruel and 100% unethical. And especially when this has to do with people seeking asylum here in the United States. We must do better. I feel complicit in the actions of my county, and I want no part in oppressive and unjust treatment or policies. Especially those actions that make the vulnerable even more at risk of trafficking, trauma, and harm.

If we do nothing, we will be on the wrong side of history, perpetuating a great evil, and out of touch with the cries of humanity.

“You can have secure and safe borders, Alleluia, for those who want to provide that. While still maintaining that grand American heritage of welcoming the immigrant and the refugee. That’s just part of America and I don’t want to see that spoiled.”

—Cardinal Timothy Dolan

https://www.facebook.com/CuomoPrimeTime/videos/2281087808793841/

The time is now for all decent people, regardless of political persuasion, to find the "better angels of our nature". Charles Dickens, from whom Lincoln borrowed this phrase, says it much more directly:

“The thoughts of worldly men are for ever regulated by a moral law of gravitation, which, like the physical one, holds them down to earth. The bright glory of day, and the silent wonders of a starlit night, appeal to their minds in vain. There are no signs in the sun, or in the moon, or in the stars, for their reading. They are like some wise men, who, learning to know each planet by its Latin name, have quite forgotten such small heavenly constellations as Charity, Forbearance, Universal Love, and Mercy, although they shine by night and day so brightly that the blind may see them; and who, looking upward at the spangled sky, see nothing there but the reflection of their own great wisdom and book-learning…

“It is curious to imagine these people of the world, busy in thought, turning their eyes towards the countless spheres that shine above us, and making them reflect the only images their minds contain…So do the shadows of our own desires stand between us and our better angels, and thus their brightness is eclipsed." 

Please do all within your power to end this policy of family separation and criminally charging these neighbors who may be undocumented. We live in a country of great abundance. We must learn to better share our resources, or we risk forever living in fear and isolation, with destructive and toxic actions that harm others and also ourselves.

In addition, as an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, I am sickened by the proof texting of scripture that A.G. Sessions did with his quote of Romans 13. The actions by our government and the attempt to support said actions with the misuse of scripture is a pattern that has existed from the beginning days of our country. A.G. Sessions reached back to days of slavery and beyond, using a privileged and proof texting approach to scripture to support these immoral actions. It is past time to take a stand against systemic injustice and it is past time to stop the misuse of scripture as a scriptural support for these immoral acts and injustices.

I am asking you to do everything in your power to fix our broken immigration system, provide a pathway to citizenship for DACA students and adults, stop the separation of children from their parents at our borders, and call out politicians who misuse scripture to support immoral practices.

Sincerely and earnestly,

Dave

A Father's Day Reflection . . . "They should have come legally"

I find Father’s Day to be a day I think about my kids, my dreams and aspirations for them, and I reflect on how they are doing in life. As with any good father, I desire for my children to experience a life of fullness, a life of Shalom, a life where nothing is missing and nothing is broken. I examine my life and reflect on my successes and failures in providing an environment where they could flourish. I reflect on what I used to call blessing for the opportunities I was able to provide my children . . . what I now call privilege. And I think about all the fathers out there who do not have my same privileges, who are desperate to escape their oppression and provide for their children the opportunities that came so easy for me to provide.

Today I was reading some comments on Facebook about our government's current actions of taking children away from immigrant families who arrive at our border, families seeking asylum (or maybe just arriving at our border seeking a better life). I kept seeing the same familiar refrain, "They should have come legally."

This is my reflection on . . . “They should have come legally!!!

Ah . . . You must mean come legally like our white ancestors did and take the land away from the inhabitants by force.

You must mean come legally and take control of the land by either killing off the inhabitants or moving them to the most undesirable parts of the country - maybe call them reservations.

Oh, you mean come legally and Infect the inhabitants with your diseases. That will get rid of a large number of them and make it easier to take their land.

. . . and while you're busy inhabiting the land legally, why not take their children away from them and forcibly remove the inhabitants culture from their children by indoctrinating them with your religion and practices.  (Learn more)

Wait . . . take people's children away from them???

It seems it doesn't matter whether we - the white people - are taking a land, that doesn't belong to us, away from POC (Native Americans) OR, we - the white people - are doing everything we can to keep POC (in this case Latinos), who simply want a better life for their children the way our ancestors did, out of this land (that our ancestors stole). Regardless of the reason, it is OK for white people to separate families. It is OK to remove children from their parents or parents from their children (we'll save the impact of our mass incarceration policies for another writing). 

It simply does not matter the circumstances . . . WE WHITE FOLKS JUST LOVE TO TAKE CHILDREN AWAY FROM THEIR PARENTS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE PARENTS ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR and we either want what they have or we are protecting what we got. 

And then, we have the unmitigated gall to use passages from the Bible to justify these actions!

Maybe it is time for us to remember what Jesus had to say about messing with the faith and innocence of a child: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea." that is of course unless the children are Native American, or Latino immigrants seeking asylum, or Muslim refugees, or . . .

Scattered across these United States of America tonight, there are 100's and 1000's of father's with an ache in their soul because their children have been taken from them simply because they wanted a better life for their children.

In various locations in these United States of America, there are children living in cages, taken from their fathers, simply because their fathers wanted a better life for their children.

These fathers are NO DIFFERENT THAN OUR WHITE FATHERS, and GRANDFATHERS, and GREAT GRANDFATHERS, and (let the ancestral tree continue). These children are NO DIFFERENT THAN OUR CHILDREN WERE OR ARE TODAY.

Heavenly Father, Forgive Us . . . 

May Your Kingdom come on earth, as it is in Heaven

Exponential Living: Fran Penrod and the Impact of One Life

The time had come. Paula and I had plans and needed someone to take care of our newborn, our firstborn (Nate). This would be the very first time he would be out of our site and care. (Maybe it was a date??? More likely an activity with our church youth group.) The big question: Who would we entrust with our baby, our firstborn?

Then we had our second kid, a little girl (Niki) and again it was time to leave her with someone for the first time. Who do we trust to take care of Niki? And then a few years later we moved to Chicago and needed someone to live with us, someone to help take care of Niki, now four years old, and Nate after he got out of school. Who could we trust to be with our kids almost more than we would be with them?

For a parent, one of the biggest decisions you make early on is who do we trust and who do we want hanging out and influencing our kids during the most impressionable time of their lives?

Although these decisions were of utmost importance with long lasting ramifications, they were easy decisions for Paula & I. Why? Because we were friends with Fran and Larry Penrod. It was like we were their kids and it was like their kids were our kids. We were privy to inside information. We knew how much Fran and Larry loved Jesus, loved each other and loved their kids. We had the inside scoop on how their kids loved and respected their parents.

So it was a no brainer! Who else would we have picked to watch our first born for the first time than Fran Penrod – this women full of grit and compassion, who lived every day with a twinkle of mischief in her eye. We absolutely knew no harm would come to our son. We knew he would be loved as much if not more than we loved him. And that twinkle of mischief in her eye . . . You had to know Fran to understand that you just didn’t take life to seriously!

And who better to be the first one to take care of Niki when we had to leave her for the first time than Fran’s daughter Karen. If you can’t get the matriarch, than you go with the firstborn of the matriarch – a “chip off the ole’ block”. 

And then came our move to Chicago and the need for someone to live with us, help us transition, and help us raise our kids, ages four and five. You guessed it! We headed straight to the Penrods and were gifted beyond measure to have Nona live with us in Chicago for a year – loving our kids as her own, giving them a solid rock to lean on during that big change, helping instill solid values in Nate and Niki, and teaching them through example a love for life & adventure with an attitude that never takes life more serious than we should, all learned from her amazing mother, Fran Penrod.

I guess Jesus decided Fran had influenced enough people on this earth because she left us for heaven this past Saturday night. It isn’t just our family that is the recipient of Fran’s influence. There’s a thick book filled with these stories. Paula & I are just thankful that the Clark’s were one of the lucky ones to have our story in that book! And our blessing carried through right to the end.

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We chose to celebrate Christmas and our 40th Anniversary by going back to Kankakee First Church of the Nazarene where we met and got our start. (I’ll just mention here that Larry Penrod sang at our wedding! And Brian . . . if there was a 3rd kid in our family, you were on deck!) After church, who was waiting to greet us and give us a big hug with that mischievous smile? Yep, Fran Penrod. (I was surprised, and now I’m disappointed I didn’t get one last solid arm punch that she usually would throw my way.)

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It will never be the same when we go back to K3 First Nazarene now that Fran’s gone. It just won’t! That’s the difference maker Fran was. And the Clarks??? We owe a forever debt of gratitude to Fran Penrod for both her direct and indirect influence on our family. Thank you Fran! We love you! Thank you for being an instrument of the Shalom of Christ in our family and so many others. Now, you are living the eternal Shalom that awaits the faithful followers of Jesus Christ. And I know you are up to some type of mischief . . .

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