What Losing DACA Taught Me About Jesus
Tuesday, September 5th was a day that turned my world upside down. It brought tears, heartbreak, grief and then a shift in perspective.
I don’t want to speak to the politics of this situation as my intention is not to offend anybody. I simply want to speak to the truth of the lessons I learned from grieving alongside those who were affected.
The Trump administration made the announcement that it was going to be putting an end to DACA. A program that was put in place by the Obama administration to provide some rights to immigrants who had been brought here as children and were therefore raised in this country. I am personally not a recipient of DACA as I was born in the U.S. but I personally know a lot of people who are and my heart broke with them.
I tried to focus on the work that needed to be done, I did my calls and tried to show up as best as I could for my clients. But in between I found myself laying in bed grieving for those who would be affected.
At the time of writing this article, things are still up in the air as to what exactly is going to happen. Trump did just announce that he has come to an agreement with Democrats to keep “Dreamers” (what we call the recipients of DACA) in the U.S. but it’s still in the hands of congress and the Republican party to vote.
But this article isn’t about a point of view on the subject. It is about the lessons I learned during the week I grieved the loss of DACA that completely shifted my perspective.
1. Not having peace does not mean you are not a Christian, it can actually mean you are more like Jesus
I want you to hear me out on this one. For a long time I have been told that as a Christian I can have peace in any circumstance. I believe that to be true and have experienced that in my life. But for a long time that caused me to believe that I needed to always have peace in my life or else I was doing something wrong and not fully living in faith.
This year I have realized that there are times to not have peace. Even Jesus experienced grief (John 11:35, Luke 13:31-35, Matthew 23:37-39). Time and time again I have needed to grieve. To grieve what is happening in the world, in our culture, to humanity. And every time I do I feel closer to God because if I grieve, if I care, how much more must He?
This was a time for me to grieve with those who were affected. And I allowed myself to grieve knowing it was okay to not have peace when lives were being affected.
2. There is nothing more Jesus-like than standing up for the oppressed
Time and time again we see Jesus standing up for the oppressed, the marginalized, the outcasts in society. During this week I saw Jesus through a very specific people group, and it had such a huge impact on me.
I saw support from the Black community. Every time I saw someone from the Black community stand up for those being affected by DACA, I was deeply moved. A people group who has experienced oppression their entire life standing up for those who were currently being oppressed. It was beautiful and I saw Jesus in that.
It showed me how important and necessary it is for us to stand up for one another, support one another and and believe in one another through times of oppression.
3. To be like Jesus means to care and to acknowledge
A lot of the work I do is online. Therefore, I found myself spending a lot of time online the day of the announcement (as I do most other days). I have to admit, it was really hard for me to see the lack of acknowledgment from others about what had occurred that day. It was hard to see others continuing to live their life like normal while I grieved.
It made me realize the importance of acknowledging the issues that happen in our world, in our society that affect a people group, even if that group is not directly our own. The fact is that we are all human beings, we were all created equal and we are all children of God. We need to love, stand up for and care about one another.
It’s hard to care when you live inside a bubble and won’t acknowledge what is happening in the world around you.
The world is not perfect, it is very much broken and falling apart. I want to encourage us to step outside of our four walls and to be the Church who brings redemption to the world. But it will only happen if we are willing to acknowledge, to care and to do.
What can you do to bring Jesus into the world today? Go do it.
