Interfaith - Welcome the Stranger

     Mejin Leechor draws her bow across the strings of her violin - a solemn but crisp melody flows out and echoes off the walls of the First Congregational Church in Oakland. Attendees sit in silence and listen to Leechor play for five minutes, awaiting the discussion to follow.
     On a gray and wet Tuesday evening, faith leaders from different congregations and churches join the East Bay Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice to promote awareness of the recent negativity surrounding the subject of health care reform and immigration.
     Leechor’s violin sets a somber but hopeful mood as Rev. Debra Lee takes center stage. “I’d like to welcome and invite you tonight into a space of prayer … we share a common commitment to compassion and justice for the migrant within us and among us.”
     The chairs are laid out in three rows of half circles; a group of young children not fully grasping the seriousness of the evening swing their legs back and forth under their chairs. Their ears perk up as a strong voice silences the room. “Tired – I hear all men are created equal, but being treated like criminals.”
     Muteado Silencio reads a bilingual poem questioning the true idea of the American dream. Someone turns off the lights, the room almost completely darkens, eyes dart to Silencio holding a burning candle in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. He continues ask what kind of dream makes people leave their families behind or makes them risk their lives crossing rivers and deserts. Silencio cries out in the dark “Mother Earth I miss my family on the other side of the border!” The lights turn on and listeners blink their adjusting eyes and Silencio takes his seat.
     As the evening moves on different community members share their opinions of the unjust treatment of immigrants either verbally or artistically. Drummers, singers and folk dancers bring out the unifying message that all people living in this country want to be treated humanly.
     Volunteers hand strips of tissue paper to the attendants and ask all to write a negative thought or lamentation about immigrant intolerance. Again the room darkens, small tea candles light the bottom of a round pit and Rev. Lee asks everyone to come forward to add their strip to the fire. One at a time people walk forward and light their tissue strips on fire. Little flames of orange flare up and each person’s lamentation is burned away.

Link to
Interfaith Slide Show