The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee advances human rights through grassroots collaborations.
Making Room at the Inn – December 2022 CAPAS blog
By UUSC Staff on December 20, 2022
This time of year we are surrounded by stories of hope, miracles, and family; stories that bring meaning to the season for people of many different cultural and religious backgrounds. The Christmas story has become pervasive in mainstream American culture and it also subtly carries messages that are beautifully subversive
For much of the year most of the world pretends that the poor are poor because of poor choices or that immigrants immigrate to steal jobs instead of acknowledging a system of oppression that radically tilts the playing field towards some and away from others. But ring in the Holiday Season and the pretending stops, at least for a moment.
Suddenly we collect coats and toys and feel good stories about providing shelter and hope to families down on their luck.
We tell a story about a great leader born in questionable circumstances, sharing his birthday crib with the donkey’s dinner because there was no room at the inn. Eventually exiled to an immigrant life in Egypt with his family.
This deeply embedded cultural story tells the world:
- Children are precious
- Where you are born should not predict the quality nor the value of your life
- Women, too, are holy
- It matters that we bear witness to each other and to the vast brilliance of the universe
- Sometimes knowledge needs to bow to intuition
- Life is a gift, utterly unpredictable, infinitely possible
- There is hope for change.
Unplanned pregnancy, poverty, immigration… you name it, the Christmas story goes there… And tells us – Joy to the World, hope has come.
It is this same hope that asylum-seekers bring to the borders of the United States: hope for safety, freedom, and an escape from poverty.
Together we can write a lasting story in which we respond to that hope with welcoming communities. We can make room at the inn.
We invite you and your congregation to join us in creating this welcoming world through UUSC’s Congregational Accompaniment Project for Asylum-Seekers (CAPAS). As part of this program, congregations throughout the country are building inclusive communities and offering support to asylum-seekers throughout their journeys. Together, Unitarian Universalists are writing stories of solidarity and forging paths of hope.
And where there is hope, there is joy. We hope you’ll join us.
Learn more at uusc.org/CAPAS
Image Credit: Andrae Ricketts
