Fragile and precious. These two words have played in my heart the past few days along with borders, boundaries and crossings. It has been a week of woe: Malaysian plane crash, fighting on the Gaza strip and in our own country, children crossing our southern border. Children whose lives like ours are fragile and precious.

Governor Patrick's offer of space to house the children has brought them closer to home. Children. Without parents. Alone. Some of them are coming from as far away as Guatemala and Honduras. Many are coming but many die along the way. The journey is treacherous. Teens, tweens and even younger children are traveling alone across desert wilderness. 

I have an image of these children crossing the border alone that I cannot shake. Their stories when you read them are heartbreaking. It is really bad in their homeland, dire. The regions they are coming from are unstable, filled with gangs, drugs and violence. The children are more like refugees than immigrants. Many of them have never been in school. They come here without much of a plan, hoping simply to live. 

In the Biblical story, God's people cross a desert wilderness and face many perils along the way. They learn from this experience what it means to be a stranger in a strange land, and they do not forget. Instilled in God's people is a deep hospitality for the wayfarer and stranger. I hope that we as God's people can help these children. 

I have listened to all the reasons why we should turn them away. I have listened to the risk we take as a Commonwealth in letting them stay. I understand. There is risk involved and there may be sacrifice. But my heart says to help. Should they come, I wonder if there is something we at the Highlands could do for them.  We can at least pray. 

Blessings, Beth

I am back after spending last week with the Senior Youth Group on their mission trip to Washington D.C. What an honor and privilege it was to spend those days with them. The youth are considerate, compassionate, hard working and a lot of fun. Our days were spent doing service work with the homeless population and most evenings were spent visiting the sites and museums of D.C. Below are some pictures to help you see some of our week. 

Those of us on the trip came away with a more nuanced understanding of the who and what of homelessness. We met Allen, part of the security team for former presidents who spent 7 years on the streets. His message to us was clear. Homelessness can happen to anyone. When we see a homeless person, I suspect we all look at them in a new way. While they may be a stranger, they also are neighbor, friend, family....who are we to judge. 

The most moving part of the week for me was the evening we cooked for and served 40 homeless people that came in off the streets of D.C. Before we ate, we played board games like Connect Four and tic-tack-toe. By the end of the evening, it was hard to tell who was homeless and who was there to serve. In the shared laughter and meal, we found our common humanity. 

Blessings, Beth