“Las Posadas—Is There Any Room Here?” by Rev. Susan Karlson

We lit three Christmas Candles tonight –candles for shining forth greater hope, charity and love in our hearts, in our deeds and in the way we live our lives. Each of us here tonight is a part of something larger than ourselves. Each of us has connections of friendship and love to families, classmates, friends, co workers, neighbors and others that aren’t here with us on this Christmas Eve.

This past spring and summer, people on Staten Island were injured just because they were immigrants, Latinos, Muslim, Russian, gay or because of the color of their skin. All those injured, all those who hurt others and all those who love them or that they love are part of our circle here tonight because of the need for wider circles of understanding and care.

Members of El Centro del Inmigrante have been to our church three times now for services including their Director, Gonzalo Mercado and musicians and dancers for Dia De Los Muertos, Day of the Dead, and of course, this evening as David and Victor played Las Posadas music. El Centro formed in 1997 with the mission of providing for the economic and overall well being of immigrant workers and their families in the United States. Members of our congregation already volunteer with El Centro and we are looking for more ways that we can form closer two way relationships with the people from El Centro.

Unitarian Universalists across the country are working on how to be more effective partners and to advocate for comprehensive and thoughtful immigration reform. Our Las Posadas celebration is a way of honoring the relationships we are building and ask ourselves, as did Mary and Joseph in our Las Posadas re-enactment, “is there any room here?” Can we work together in partnerships to make sure there is room for immigrants and American union workers and so many others who have felt the harshness of being out in the cold without a place to rest, feeling no one cares for them; perhaps each of us wondering at times if anyone cares?

If we light the Christmas Candles of Hope, Charity and Love, let us continue to ask ourselves this question, “how can I make room, how can we make room in our hearts?”