Made for You and Me

On the Fourth we celebrate in all sorts of ways:  some with downright jingoism, some with smoky barbecues, some with a sporting event, some just chillin in the park with friends and family.  Oh, and don’t forget the fireworks.

July 4th is also a popular date for naturalization ceremonies wherein immigrants officially become US citizens — ceremonies often held in parks, courthouses, stadiums, or even historical sites.

America means many things to many people, but it’s especially precious to the many who have chosen to move here from far-away lands and make America their home.  Precious to those who have seized the golden opportunity for a better life.

As Neil Diamond belts it out, “America.”

“On the boats and on the planes
They’re coming to America
Never looking back again
They’re coming to America”

Coming to America is coming to the full promise of America.  It’s about all men and women being created equal,”the existence of unalienable rights — life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  It’s about a government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”  Sacred principles that must be fought for every single day.

That’s the  reason they’re coming to America.  Compared to the many places of corruption and dictatorship, oligarchy and rule by drug lords, for all our flaws – America, to much of the world, spells opportunity.

To my mind, the greatest tragedy is to miss the open doors of opportunity, to fail to make something of oneself, or contribute to a cause greater than self.

During college, when I worked in L.A. County Juvenile Hall, one of the saddest days of my experience there was one day on the night shift.

Mostly what we did at night was just to monitor those sleeping, and because of the overcrowding, many slept on mats on the floor.  If a boy needed to use the restroom, we would accompany him down the hallway and unlock the restroom door, wait until he finished his business and then walk him back to his dorm.

This one evening, a young fellow who had made a life’s career of juvie hall over many of his twelve years or so, upon returning from the bathroom paused with me at my desk.  I’ll never forget his words.  He said, almost a prayer, “I wish I’d studied in school and listened to my Mom – so I wouldn’t be where I am now.  I wish I’d been like you.” 

For this young boy, the hope and promise of America was so, so far away.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Last Thursday I had lunch with a fellow who did listen to hope and promise beckoning.

Michael, a former gangbanger, a former inmate of California’s correctional system sent up for murder, at fifty-two, is a changed man.

Michael gave me a paper he had written for an English class on critial thinking.  It told his life story. 

Michael writes: “Growing up in a broken home, with my siblings all in gangs, it was all around me.”  His father, his mother’s fourth husband, after an episode of domestic violence, left the family when Michael was three years-old.   Michael was one of ten children, every one of whom was, or still is, in a gang.

Michael ended up in prison for murder, killing a man when he ran a red light while high on PCP.  He was sentenced at the age of twenty-four to 19 years to life.  Somewhere along the line in his despondant loneliness, the Spirit spoke.  “Your life doesn’t have to be like this — an addict behind bars for the rest of your life with no future ahead but death.”  In that bleak instant, Michael listened. “Your life doesn’t have to be like this.”

Michael has been released.  He has turned his life around.  Found sobriety – he’s been sober many years.  Found a wonderful woman and made a family.  He’s on the cusp of completing his A.A. degree and headed for a B.A. in addiction recovery.  He now wants to work with those stil incarcerated, to let them know they have a better choice.

I must say, his GPA is far better than mine was in my first go around at college.  Far better!

Michael is the promise of America.  He is living proof that recovery works. Catching up with him over lunch, Michael reaffirms my hope in the work we do, and in the promise of our nation.  He shines brighter than any sparkler that I’ve ever set off.  Michael is the promise of America.  This Fourth I celebrate him.

I need to hear again and again Michael’s story because it is easy to become discouraged and jaded by the chaos, brutality and lies of this government.   His story gives me the courage I need to press on, doing whatever I can to “Keep Hope Alive.”

Michael focused on what was life-giving during his time in prison.  That is what James Baldwin urges.  The only fact for certain is death.  The other fact is the choice we make to live a life worthy of the brief moment we each are given.

At the conclusion of this earthly drugery, there are no do-overs.  But in the midst of it, the moment may be seized for a worthy life of self-respect, a life of true companionship with one’s neighbors, family and friends.

The question is ever and always: what is owed?  And to whom?

In our lection for today, again Jesus’ opponents confront him with a ploy to trick him into sedition.  “’Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth.  Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’”  Just an aside here – while such empty flattery usually works to sway the Orange Felon, Jesus has no patience for such hypocritical fawning. “’Bring me a denarius and let me see it….Whose head and title is on it?’  ‘The emporer’s,’ they answered.  ‘Then give to the emporer the things that are the emporer’s and to God the things that are God’s.’”

This choice of allegiences  is becoming abundantly clear to many Americans as we head into the sixth month of this incompetent, inhumane administration.  The choice is becoming clear as we come together to celebrate the Fourth this year.

As we look at the human misery caused by this morally blind and shambolic administration, many are sorting out their allegiences to God and country.  But above all, it’s the blatant cruelty that shocks most citizens.

In reporting by the Associated Press, there was a piece on the abhorrence of Americans to ICE raids.[1]

One fine day in San Diego, Adam Greenfield was nursing a cold when his girlfriend called to tell him that ICE was in the neighborhood conducting a raid.

Adam couldn’t be an unconcerned bystander.  Grabbing his iPhone, he was still barefoot as he rushed out the front door of his house.  By the time he got to the street, assembled were some seventy-five of his neighbors, resturant patrons, workers and others gathered around an ICE vehicle.

They were recording masked agents barging into a popular Italian eatery down the street in their upscale neighborhood.  The crowd yelled for the agents to leave as they blocked the agents’ van.

“I couldn’t stay silent,” Greenfield said. “It was literally outside of my front door.”[2]

Continuing from the reporting:  “More Americans are witnessing people being hauled off as they shop, exercise at the gym, dine out and otherwise go about their daily lives as President Donald Trump’s administration aggressively works to increase immigration arrests.  As the raids touch the lives of people who aren’t immigrants themselves, many Americans who rarely, if ever, participated in civil disobedience are rushing out to record the actions on their phones and launch impromptu protests.”[3]

Finally, over the protests of the crowd and through a haze of smoke from flash bangs the agents rode off with four terrified workers.

Hauled off to where?  To overcrowded, squalid and unsanitary holding pens.  No due process whatsoever.  Their grieving families not knowing whatever happened to their loved ones.

For Adam Greenfield, it was very clear where his allegiance lay — to God in standing up for these decent, hard-working immigrants just trying to provide for their families.  Many of whom have peacefully lived among us 20, 30 years or more.  Paying taxes and abiding by our laws.  These are not the storied gangbangers, worst-of-the-worst criminals this administration claims to be targeting for deportation.

These are the real essential workers of America. 

Our duty to the nation?  To work the politics of our system to provide a pathway to citizenship for these unseen, unacknowledged heroes of our national life, essential workers of our communities, of our economy. 

Essential workers!  Whether washing dishes, picking vegetables or processing our meat – caring for our elderly in nursing homes, building our houses and highways, putting out linens in our hotel rooms or studying to better themselves.  Essential workers all.  

The worst of the worst?  Ask yourself, how many gangbangers and criminal scumbags are out there toiling in one-hundred-degree scorching heat picking our cabbages?

Our duty to God is to stand up for their dignity, to honor and be grateful for their labor.  To care for them and their families.   Our duty to our country is to provide a path to citizenship so they can continue to enrich the fabric of this nation.  To resist the cruelty of these raids. To open the opportunity for them to make their contribution to building this nation as have countless immigrants done before them.

They’re coming to America.  Some from faraway places, some from the ghettos and barrios of our cities, some from addiction and prison cells – given a chance, they’re coming to America.  Its promise and duties.

It’s children like a discouraged little boy in juvie hall, who, given half a chance would, I hope beyond hope, leap at that opportunity for a different life – that he might be coming to America. 

It is folks like Michael, now making an incredible contribution to himself, his family and to this nation as he continues his journey through recovery.  This Fourth — Coming to America.  Coming to America. Coming to America.  

That all who call this land home might seize the promise of America.  This hope I celebrate with my barbecue, potato salad, cheese and beer, friends and family this Independence Day.  Remember that Wisconsin saying, “With brats, cheese and beer, you can save the world.”  Coming to America.  Amen.

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[1] Julie Watson, Jake Offenhartz and Claire Rush, “Many Americans are witnessing immigration arrests for the first time and reacting,” Associated Press, June 20, 2025.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

July 6, 2025
A Celebration of Our Nation

Deuteronomy 10:17-21; Psalm 145;
Hebrews 11:8-16; James Baldwin Reading;
Gospel: Mark 12:13-17

“Made for You and Me”