the [idealistic] kingdom of God

about a year ago, our church began a partnership with world relief, a non-profit organization that resettles refugees in the united states. our friend abby (who, by the way, is expecting word TOMORROW about whether her son passed court in ethiopia) told world relief that if they ever resettled an ethiopian family, we wanted to know about it.

that's how i found myself in the airport last night at midnight, handing a loaf of zucchini bread to an ethiopian man and his family. they were kind and beautiful, and i just wanted to squeeze them all (especially the kids, ages 1, 3, and 7). there is something very profound about watching a family pick up all their earthly belongings from baggage claim and embark on a new life. but as much joy as i felt for them, i couldn't help but let the darkness seep in.

america is not the promised land, i thought. i hope they know.

i try not to be overly political on here, but if you've read any of my circa-2009 blog posts (the ones where i was less nice than i am now), i inevitably find something i need to address. i like to be respectful of opinions and various political views, and i really loathe when people claim to be open-minded because they hate close-minded people (irony). but i want to go ahead and put it out there that i've been hating the state of arizona for awhile now.

you see, i'm an idealist. when i look at the world, i see all the ways it could be different and better, and i could really care less about all the variables that prevent it from being as such. unfortunately, i know my own human nature and that of others, and i know that an ideal world is next to impossible because we all mess up and are generally self-centered. in other words, the real obstacle to an ideal world is me.

but i believe the kingdom of God is the ideal world i'm hoping for. in the kingdom, people are loved and cared for. people are forgiving and generous. people aren't judged based on their skin color or how much money they make or where they come from. people focus on others more than themselves. and i think the gospel imperative is that once we have met jesus, he calls us to make this ideal world a reality. and i think he wants us to start right now, even knowing that it won't be complete until he comes again. which brings me back to the current state affairs in this country.

i'm heartbroken and infuriated by what's going on in arizona. i'm bewildered that while 90% or more people in this country claim to be christians, more than 50% of this country is backing arizona in its so-called "immigration reform." what i hear is that illegal immigrants are taking my job, eating my food, overcrowding my schools, and mooching off my government with my hard-earned taxpayer dollars. why does being an american mean we have a birthright to jobs and food and healthcare and education? it seems no one has considered that if we were the poor family in mexico, struggling to provide for our children, with no choice in the matter of where we were born, we would probably also cross the border to a new life. we would believe america was the promised land until we got here and realized that nobody wanted us here because our skin was darker and we spoke a different language and we were taking everything that apparently belonged to them even though they also had no choice in the matter of where they were born.

when i think of the kingdom of God i don't see borders. i see unending welcome and hospitality. i don't hear people claiming things as "mine" but rather telling friends and strangers, "i will share with you" (even if it means paying more in taxes). it sounds so idealistic and far too simple-minded, especially considering that we do have to answer real, practical questions like how to build more schools or how to find the money to feed everyone when we have a deficit or how to make citizenship more accessible.

but i imagine that in the end, when the world has been made right, heaven will feel like that ethiopian woman's hand in mine as we shook hands for the first time. it will sound like the man's voice as he said, "thank you" when i handed him the zucchini bread. it will look like the smile on the little boy's face when abby handed him a balloon. there will be no obstacles. we will have gotten over ourselves. we will see that even the most idealistc things can be real.