Politcal Message from Lauren.

My friends, I am not a major political nut. However, I just feel compelled to make a few statements of political nature. I hate arguing, and avoid it at all costs, being the passive aggressive creature I am. I promise I am not trying to make anyone mad. I also promise I do not know all there is to know about anything political. So, take these comments with love and grace.
Thanks.

The issue of the day is aliens! Not space ones. Mostly Mexican ones. People who come to America because they want to make a better life for themselves and their families. They don't always do it legally. Sometimes they sneak in. Sometimes they don't follow the rules of living here properly. Mostly I hear anger and hatred when people speak about these folks. They steal our jobs, they take our money, they don't follow our rules, they don't try hard enough to learn English, etc... I would just like to reflect on a Bible verse for a moment.

This is a verse from Leviticus. In the passage God is explaining some laws he would like the Israelites to keep. He asks them to keep these rules so that they may be set apart from the world and show other people how God loves them and how God wants them to live. Here is a law I came across... "The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 19:34.
What?? God wants us to love them? YES!!!!! God wants us to love them!! Because God loves them. And aren't we commissioned to be Jesus to all people?

Let's look at the verse again. Why does God say we should love them? Because we were once aliens in Egypt. Not us, literally; the Israelites. The Israelites were enslaved to the Egyptians for hundreds of years. They were mistreated and cried out to God for freedom. God is asking the Israelites to empathize with their neighbors. To remember the pain of being alone, and to reach out a loving hand. (Yes, I know the Israelites are different from aliens in America because we do not have them enslaved here. They come on their own. But I believe the principle still remains. Empathize. If you lived in their country, saw the violence and poverty they do, you might consider swimming the river, too. I know I would. Empathy. Love.)

So, when I hear people complaining about illegal aliens I cringe and say, why can't we love them? Just because they are more tan than me, speak a different (and beautiful) language, and were born a few miles south does not give me any right to slander them. We are to love them. God asked us to treat them like our own native-borns.

Most of my opinion comes from being concerned very little with earthly governments and very much concerned with the Kingdom of God. As a citizen of the Kingdom, I will choose to love rather than accuse, complain, or judge.

Well, that's about it. I have more to say, but due to privacy, will not be typing it online. We can talk about it personally, if you are so inclined.

I feel better now. c: