No Olvidado: Finding Easter in the Desert by Rebecca Hall You can tell a lot about a people based on what they celebrate. As I participated in and observed Easter this year, it struck me how much effort we put into enacting this elaborate ritual of grieving for somebody who we all know is not really dead. I’m not criticizing—in fact, I think this tradition is wonderful but what bothers me is how little our reverence of Jesus’ life and death affects our perception of the value of the lives and deaths of others. Jesus demonstrated with his death the great value that God places on all human beings, especially on those who are “unclean,” undesirable, or unwanted. Yet thousands of years later, we still have not learned. One of the tragedies of our society is how easy it is to take human beings, made in the image of God, and turn them into caricatures, or worse, mere numbers. Their lives are considered a nuisance; their deaths are no tragedy. Among those who are rhetorically victimized in this way are millions of undocumented immigrants. The cruel indifference that the US immigration system shows towards the lives of the undocumented is nowhere more apparent than in the policies that have forced them away from the cities and into the desert. Every year the number of those who cross goes down, and yet for those who do make the journey, it is treacherous. The Border Patrol annually reports finding hundreds of bodies in the US/Mexico desert—dead bodies, that is. “Body” is the official terminology for any human being picked up, no matter how alive they are. This past winter, a group from Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University went to the San Diego/Tijuana border to “conscientize” ourselves on this issue which, to many, is a question of numbers and economics and not of lives. While there, we were lead out into the foothills, the paths where migrants cross, and into a small town with a cemetery filled with unmarked graves. Some of these graves were filled with those who were too poor to be buried elsewhere. Others marked the final home of unidentified corpses, remains of what was once a human life, found abandoned in the desert. Thousands have died in this way. Many of them risk their own lives in order to improve those of their loved ones. Yet they end up alone, far away from those who love or even recognize them. The ministry which brought us to this particular cemetery does its best to recognize, if not the people buried, at least the tragedy of their deaths. They visit regularly, planting on every grave crosses marked no olvidado—not forgotten. It is so easy to forget the significance of a life, especially if it is not our own. Undocumented immigrants have been so vilified in this country that it is hard to remember that, like the rest of us, they are humans full of worth in the eyes of God.
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What is more, they bring life to us in their presence, in their labor, and in so many other ways. As we stood in the graveyard that day, surrounded by the evidence of death, we recited this prayer: We welcome you into our hearts and our homes, dear Jesus. We welcome you in the person of the migrant farm worker, whose labor brings the fruits of the field and the vine to our table. We welcome you in the persons of the seafarer and truck driver, whose long journeys bring goods and fuel to our homes. We welcome you in the person of the refugee child alone in the world, whose hope and courage bring us inspiration. We welcome you in the person of the asylum seeker, detained in our prisons without cause, who teaches us to thirst for justice. We welcome you in the persons of the immigrant teacher, scientist, artist, athlete, and doctor, all of whom bring their gifts to enrich our land and our lives. Lord Jesus, help us to recognize you in the face of the stranger and welcome your presence among us. You have graced us with the gifts of many cultures and nations. Free us from the fear of those from other lands. Teach us to share our gifts with newcomers in return, so that you may say, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me; Come into my Kingdom.� We ask this in your name, from the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. This year, as you remember the death and resurrection of Jesus, also remember those who have died crossing the desert. Remember those whose lives are filled with fear because of a system that classifies them based on economics instead of humanity. But most of all, appreciate their lives—the gifts they bring us through their courage, their strength, and their presence. Imagine an immigration system that appreciates and welcomes people, instead of turning them away, a system that brings life and not death. Then live to make it a reality. Rebecca Hall is an MDiv student and a Sider Scholar at the Sider Center on Ministry and Public Policy, Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University.
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