Smuggling Grace

We are living in uncharted times. It feels as though so much is shifting beneath our feet. Federal funding, government safeguards, and civil rights are facing rollbacks and threats, while new movements of protest and community care are emerging. Simply put—what a time to be alive.

In the midst of this era, as a person in midlife, I find myself reflecting, “What is it like to be very old right now?” and “What is it like to be very young right now?”

I think about the mover-and-shaker elders who have worked so hard to build laws, rights, and systems of care in this country. Several such people are often on my mind and in my heart. One elder, who has expressed, “Every day, I feel like my life’s work is on the verge of being erased,” continues to move forward and create “good trouble.” I want her to know we have her back, that we are in the fight with her. I also think of a Black, sage elder in his mid-70s, who has witnessed so much struggle and triumph. He says, “This is the most dangerous time I’ve witnessed in this country.” Yet, he remains committed every day to “building a better world.”

Likewise, I think about what it’s like to be a young adult in this country right now. I’m fortunate to have relationships with many treasured people in this stage of life. Young adulthood is full of transitions, and what is it like to navigate those transitions when it feels like so much is changing—nationally and even globally? I want them to know they are cared for by people my age. We have their back, too, and we want to help create better pathways for them as they move forward.

We often talk about the Sandwich Generation—the time when we care for both aging parents and young children at once. But this need goes beyond our families. It’s something we must embrace as a society right now.

So if someone older or younger came to mind while reading this, maybe take a moment to reach out and connect. And if you need support, whatever your age, it’s completely valid. It can be asked for, received, and cultivated.

— Renee Roederer

For twelve years, I’ve lived through long Michigan winters. Each year, when spring arrives, I’m completely delighted, and I never quite get over it. From the start of the season through summer, I’m filled with gratitude for the contrast.

I’ve been reflecting on spring’s dual nature: I fully expect its arrival, but I still find myself surprised by it. At this time of year, I always wonder: what would it be like if winter started, and I had no knowledge that spring would follow? What if I couldn’t expect it?

And that brings me to another thought: if I were a chipmunk born in 2024, would I have any concept of the end of winter once the season arrived in my daily experience? Would I just think, “Well, I guess this is my life now…”?

I have no idea what a chipmunk thinks or perceives. But I’m glad I can count on this change, and I’m glad I can still feel surprised by it.

There are probably a lot of life metaphors in there somewhere.

– Renee Roederer

With great pain and loss, Palestinian families in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem have received and continue to receive eviction notices. They are in danger of losing their land and homes to tourist sites and to Israeli settlers.

In response, they have created a public art exhibition on their homes themselves, called I Witness Silwan. Buildings in the neighborhood contain artistic renditions of eyes, including those of actual people like Che Guevara, George Floyd, and Rachel Corrie. These eyes look in the direction of tourist sites which continue to expand. Art provides vital forms of truth-telling and ways to honor human stories, and these eyes convey humanity and a sense of diligent, steadfast witness. They also honor thousands of Palestinians who have already been dispossessed here.

I invite you to take a look at what they have created. You can also support them on their site.

What if… the worst things you believe about yourself —

I’m not this enough,
I’m not that enough,

I’m always like this,
I’ll never be like this,

That person thinks this about me,
That person thinks that about me,

That whole community thinks this about me,
That whole community thinks that about me,

I’m too this,
I’m too that,

I’m not capable of this,
I’m not capable of that —

aren’t even true?

Wouldn’t it be liberating to believe what is much more true?
What is much more possibly true?
What is flat out true?

That
We’re loved,
We’re worth loving,
We’re capable of loving.

And

That
Many
Many
Many Things
Are Possible.

–Renee Roederer

Love We Will Not Lose

I returned to this sermon again this morning when invited to preach at Northside Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor. I find myself thinking about how much staying power this story from Jesus has had. Just think about how many different situations it has spoken into over the centuries.

We might be able to relate deeply to every single character in this story in one way or another.

— Photos by Renee Roederer

These words below were written by Matt Mikalatos on Facebook. You can access his Facebook post here.

This is Rumeysa Ozturk, a Fulbright scholar from Turkey who is studying for her doctorate at Tufts University.

Last night, six masked men walked up to her in a residential neighborhood, grabbed her, and whisked her away in unmarked cars. Bystanders asked the men who they were and why they wore masks and they said “We’re the police.”

One of the neighbors caught it on his security camera and has shared truly chilling photos of a young woman being surrounded and bundled off into a car.

Like previous illegal ICE arrests of recent days there have been no charges filed. Her lawyer quickly filed with a judge to prevent her being moved out of state, which the judge approved, but as of today the ICE tracking tool shows her at a privately run prison in Louisiana, not in Massachusetts where she was taken. Her lawyers have not been allowed to speak to her.

Unlike other recent arrests, Ozturk was NOT heavily involved in protest actions on her campus or elsewhere.

I’ve been told that in some of the other egregious ICE actions of recent weeks that it’s “not a free speech issue” because these people are “terrorists” and “supporters of Hamas” (NONE of which has been proven *or even charged* by the US government) AND YET… the best guess right now as to why this woman’s visa was revoked and she was arrested is that she put her name on an op-ed in her school paper.

The op-ed had controversial statements like “We, as graduate students, affirm the equal dignity and humanity of all people.”

So, to recap:

– A young, intelligent woman who is studying in the US legally

– Wrote an op-ed

– Got arrested by masked men and had her visa revoked

– Was removed from the state despite a court order saying she was not to be removed

– Has not been allowed to contact her lawyers

One of Rumeysa’s friends, a professor at Northeastern, describes her as a “soft spoken, kind, and gentle soul.” He said that not only was she not antisemitic, and not racist, he said that in the ten years he’s known her she’s not spoken badly to anyone at all.

It seems like in every way, Rumeysa Ozturk is the kind of person we should want in the United States. Kind, intelligent, law-abiding. Instead we’ve violated her rights and our own values, abducted her with masked secret police, incarcerated her without any charges, kept her from her lawyers, and disobeyed court orders about where she’s to be kept.

I’ve heard some people saying lately that there’s no reason to be concerned, because immigrants don’t have the same rights as citizens, and honestly I find this more stomach-churning than some of the directly racist or xenophobic things I’ve seen people say. Why on earth are people defending the government that’s harming people instead of the vulnerable people being harmed?

I will promise you this: when a government starts violating rights of the vulnerable, it doesn’t stop with a single population of people.

This is another truly disturbing action by the US government and by ICE. If you’re an American citizen, please make some noise about this to your reps, and check in on your friends who are vulnerable to this same kind of xenophobic totalitarian rights violations.

— Matt Mikalatos

I stepped outside, and I was surprised to find some crocuses in full bloom.

New life is possible. New life is surprising.

I wonder, what it would be like to live in a world where innumerable bombs, dropped on vulnerable places—homes, families, and human lives with names—generated more shock and scrutiny than the channels and methods we use to discuss them?

— Renee Roederer