The Guarantee of Safe Pasture
Untouchable. Acts of peaceful worship within a house of worship are Constitutional right. We have a right to peaceful assembly; to not lay hold of fear that we will be surrounded by hyenas packing cell phones.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15488461/minnesota-protest-church-ICE-nekima-armstrong-arrested.html
David Easterwood fulfills a pastoral role at Cities Church in St. Paul. He is also the Acting Director of the St. Paul ICE field office. But he is merely a small part of a greater whole for this community of faith.
As Christians we are called "members in particular" because each one of us is commanded to meet the needs of the other. As we enter the doors of our churches we are also equal. Perhaps this was the original Constitutional decree - in form of Divine decree - which preceded the words which were penned by our forefathers. And no differently than a healthy family, a healthy and vibrant church is a societal safety net. And no differently than a family home, my community sees the church as a safe pasture. We are His sheep and the sheep of His pasture. More simply put, we are the church of Jesus Christ. And our week is anchored by keeping the Sabbath along with our fellow congregants.
Inside a sanctuary, there may be a mechanic who just lost his job, the nurse who is discouraged because a code was called on a small child and she was tasked with comforting the frantic parents. Within this group, the only son who struggles to care for his elderly father, and the teen boy who just witnessed his best friend stealing his first girlfriend. And in spite of all of the "big as Texas" clatter about the abundant life, a destiny we can only imagine, God as Santa Claus, the fact is that we attend church because when we look in the mirror we really know who we are; and we are in need of redemption. But we also represent the traditions of our prophets. We are Nahum (comfort and consolation), we are Habakkuk (one who embraces), or we might fill the shoes of Jeremiah (the weeping prophet) as we weep over the sins of our nation.
Walking into our churches, receiving hugs from others, voicing our prayers, raising our voices in chorus - all remind us, that in deep manner, we need each other and are dependent on others during this rather short journey called life. We live on "the dash"; that small hyphen on our gravestone which separates date of birth from date of death. But the dash is best accompanied by love.
A decade ago, an incident in my own city caused armed young men with rifles and waving American flags to stand on the sidewalk outside our largest mosque. I had a history with this mosque, having attended an event as the guest of a former Pakistani ambassador. I also had the back story to Ahmed Mohamed and what happened prior to and after his arrest by Irving police for taking what was classified as a hoax bomb to his school.
If knowledge is power - I had the power of journalism at my disposal. But ethical journalism standards made me distance myself from this story; with details unknown to most of you. I merely observed, as Muslims in my own city bore the brunt of what became international attention directed against our city, and observed as the young man in question became a global trending headline within 24 hours of his arrest. This was political theater at its worst.
I was also aware of the activities of a hastily-scrambled group known as BAIR.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/gun-toting-protesters-held-a-rally-against-islamization-outside-a-texas-mosque/
These Americans were within their right to protest outside the perimeter of the mosque. There was a right to bear arms... to wave flags... to grow a pair of jackass ears in the process. Had they chosen to trespass, enter the mosque, and interfere with private acts of worship I would have welcomed their arrest for disturbing the peace. Because at the end of the day, the right to freely worship within a designated space provides the guarantee of safe pasture. Those who chose to trample on this freedom in St. Paul should be required to take a course in Constitutional law. It is doubtful, any have read the document.
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