~ written by Tonya
We gathered early Monday morning in the back of the Borderlinks building for a workshop called "Solidarity vs. Charity." It was our third day of learning together and of listening to the stories of this place and these people. I didn't know what to expect but I was eager to hear what the young leaders, Sabina and Grace, had to share with us. As I looked around at my group, I saw evidence that we were all ready to learn: notebooks open and pens poised, laptops fired up and ready, coffee cups on standby, faces lit by the soft morning sunlight. Imagine a group of over-sized fourth-graders on the first day of school...that was us!
What we had experienced so far had kept us on an emotional roller coaster, our minds digesting human stories and daunting statistics. From meeting Rosa and her family in sanctuary to hearing undocumented students describe their journey, from John Fife's life of faithful activism to Shura's life of selfless charity, we were ready to learn what we could do to help. Sabina opened the workshop by saying: "I know you all want to 'fix' this...it's a normal North American response. Let's spend some time looking at how power operates, and why leaping in and 'fixing' won't work." Just like that, she burst our expectation bubbles and simultaneously challenged us to go deeper. What followed was a discussion that, while it didn't give us The Answer, helped us name and understand how hope, power, charity, and solidarity act and interact.
Sabina gave us a lovely Spanish expression to use in lieu of "brainstorming:" lluvia de ideas or a rainfall of ideas. We let the rainfall of ideas shower down as we tried to list acts and characteristics of charity, then acts and characteristics of solidarity. After a moment, the ideas came so fast that both leaders had to hurry to record them. Under charity, words like *soup kitchens* building houses*giving money* were followed by phrases like* othering/"those people"* one direction* sharing resources* assuages guilt*Biblical commandment* Christian obligation.
Under solidarity, we listed *peaceful protest* shared humanity* relational* both directions* taking risks* following the lead of those who have been most affected* education* holding our community and our leaders accountable. As a group, we could see the undeniable value of charity in solving problems. As the discussion went on, we began to see how solidarity goes beyond this-how solidarity involves finding the root causes of those problems and taking risks to address them.
For example, we saw Shura and the Green Valley Samaritans as practicing charity: they work to solve the problem of people dying in the desert by providing water and supplies, but they don't act to change the root causes of people dying in the desert. John Fife and the Sanctuary Movement, on the other hand, take risks by confronting our political leaders and holding them accountable for unjust policies.
It is easy to see charity as an integral part of Christian life. Looking at our lluvia de ideas, I noticed that we seemed to equate Christianity with charity while placing solidarity in the realm of "politics." What I took away from this experience is that solidarity is also a faithful response, perhaps even more so than charity: solidarity requires relationship, recognition of the worth of each human life, and sacrifice-all central to the Christian faith. For me, solidarity means following Jesus beyond feeding the hungry- to eating with the outcasts, beyond caring for the sick- to advocating for their rights, beyond giving of my resources-to turning over the tables of greed in the temple. It means practicing the radical welcome of the table open to all, even if that means taking risks when we invite our migrant brothers and sisters to that table.
No comments:
Post a Comment