Last week, one of the largest hurricanes to ever make landfall in North America came barreling towards Florida after demolishing some islands in the Caribbean.  Millions of people began to evacuate. I had friends driving to Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina.  They just wanted to leave. They wanted to save their lives as floods, tornados, and strong winds approached their homes.

Now, pretend that no other state allowed them to come. Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina all decided that they didn’t want Floridians to seek safety across their state lines. Imagine if the states surrounding Texas didn’t allow Harvey victims to evacuate to them.

Imagine if those states didn’t allow them to enter and forced people to stay and face their impending doom; stay and face their impending death.

That just sounds evil doesn’t it?

That evil is what we as Americans do regularly without even realizing it. We do this to people all over the world. Mexicans trying to flee a life controlled by the drug cartel, Syrians trying to flee a bomb filled civil war that is killing civilians, Palestinians being expelled from their homes, and others who are fleeing atrocities and trying to find a better way of life.

We know in our hearts that it is wrong. We know those people have just as much a right to flee from their impending doom, to flee from their impending death as their fellow humans do.

Now, don’t overreact to this. I understand some of the arguments from the other side, like the one that Florida evacuees were for no longer than a week. It makes sense but look at this from the perspective of all of humanity rather than from the perspective of America vs. The World.

As Humans we have the responsibility to care for each other. If you claim to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus, or someone who just wants to see a Better World, you have been tasked with that responsibility. This world is a dark and scary place when you go at it alone. When you face it arm-in-arm with 7 billion other people, it turns out not to be so frightening.

The question I am posing to you is, “Do you want to be part of that 7 Billion who unite together to create a better world?”

Shalom friends,