October 9, 2024

Try imagining a place where
it’s always safe and warm
“Come in,” she said
“I’ll give you shelter
from the storm”
Bob Dylan

As we slip into this season of Samhain, of ancestors and elders, of Crone, there is much to write about. But in this moment I am totally focused on the people of Florida and surrounding states. Hurricane upon hurricane arriving and leaving behind death and destruction. Homes and lives ruined. So this is the story I share today.

Father: You’re not riding your bike.
Daughter: No. There’s a spider web on it.
Father: Well, just destroy the web. The spider will know it’s not a safe place to be.
Daughter: Isn’t that what happens to refugees?

I’m seeing so many reports of parks and parking lots and even race tracks opening for those fleeing from the hurricane. Open arms and open hearts. And that’s wonderful. But do we not see or recognize that so many refugees, we name them immigrants, flee to this country because, like those in the path of the hurricane, their lives have been destroyed?

Wether escaping storms of weather or storms of political violence and persecution, can we not open our arms and our hearts to them? Can we not give them all shelter from the storm?

Beannacht,
Judith