Who Should Go First?
Once I was waiting in a grocery store line, chatting with the elderly woman in front of me who had a walker.
The line got long, and another clerk opened another cash register.
But instead of inviting the elderly woman in front of me to be next, she allowed the fastest, more able, and certainly less deserving people behind her to go.
I felt badly for the woman, who not only had been waiting a while, but whose frailty and advanced years surely should have put her first.
So, yes, the Episcopal church is making headlines because its immigrant resettlement organization is refusing to resettle white Afrikaners.
It's not because they haven't been in line, it's because others have been there first who have demonstrated much greater need.
What about the Afghan allies, persecuted religious minorities, and other populations facing extreme, life-threatening poverty, famine, and persecution, who have already been fully vetted and in line for years?
This Sunday our church will baptize a little baby and together we will recite our baptismal covenant, which reminds us to respect the dignity of every human being.
Of course it's difficult to determine which refugee is more needy than another, but it can, should, and is done,
So that the needs of those deemed most deserving should, in fact, go first.
And we should not be shy about making the case and taking action.
