Embracing Strangers
Tim Mulrony
THE journey of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt to freedom is an epic adventure in the Old Testament. Through divine intervention, they were rescued from a life of drudgery and futility, but then endured 40 years traversing a desert wasteland before finally entering the Promised Land. There they settled into a life of comfort and security and might have gladly forgotten their past misery if it hadn't been for an ongoing reminder: other people of different backgrounds, cultures and languages came over the horizon into the same land in search of a new and better life.
The temptation for the Israelites to look down upon and exploit these vulnerable newcomers was very real. However, God repeatedly reminded them of their earlier struggles and the blessings they had received, as a way of inviting them to look upon these strangers with understanding and compassion.
We live in a world in which so many people are on the move from city to city, one country to the next, one continent to another. There are as many reasons for moving as there are people, but underlying all of them is their common search for a new and better life for themselves and for those whom they cherish.
As anyone who has ever migrated realises, before we find comfort and security in our new world, we must first face challenges and obstacles that leave us feeling vulnerable and unsure. Our sense of helplessness is all the greater if there is nobody whom we can call a friend or if we don't speak the language in a strange land. Usually, however, the understanding and compassion of a few people already established there enable us to navigate such difficulties, and we settle down to realise our dreams of a new and better life.
Once settled in the "Promised Land," we face the same temptation as the ancient Israelites: the tendency to forget our fragile beginnings and struggles to adapt; the tendency to look down upon and exploit succeeding newcomers. God invites us, however, to remember our earlier struggles and to recall our blessings so we might look upon the stranger in our midst with greater understanding and compassion.
