Yesterday, my teenage granddaughter picked up the tab for tickets for us to see the latest Jurassic Park sequel. For a couple of hours we enjoyed the new movie trailers, shared popcorn, jumped and screamed as the latest dinosaurs raged across the screen and smiled at my nine year old grandson’s preferred movie seat: my lap! It was our first Nyanya-grandchildren outing this summer. And though we shared the usual laughs and remembrances, it was tempered by the reality of the times. On the way to the theater and on the way home, we talked about the children who were separated from their parents and are being held in camps and facilities across the country. As I tried to explain the whys and how of this national tragedy to a nine, twelve and sixteen year old in a manner that emphasized that this treatment of children was not in keeping with the faith we embrace, that it was wrong, my heart ached. Here we were, returning from a carefree fun-filled afternoon, while thousands of children were lying on thin Mylar blankets, bewildered and afraid. Part of me felt it was wrong that I could enjoy my grandchildren’s presence while the parents of these children were desperate to just know the whereabouts of theirs.
Thankfully the outrage and protests continue around the nation. More and more individuals and organizations are pursing strategies to address this moral crisis that undermines the faith of this Christian nation. God does not expect us to be perfect; He knows we can not be. But He does expect us to press onward toward perfection, to throw off everything that taints our efforts and gives the enemy a foothold into our souls. From my perspective, that pressing onward includes legislation that prohibits separation of children from their parents in scenarios like the one we’re witnessing. And it most surely includes expending whatever government resources are needed to reunite parents and their children who languish in holding centers, tents and other facilities. And though this is not a natural disaster that we would be responding to with the full weight of the country’s resources, it is still a disaster. Albeit a one man-made disaster, it should be responded to in no less a fashion as would the other.