“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?”

NYC Standing on the Side of Love Immigration Rally Dec. 9th

It was a cold day in New York City as we prepared to rally in front of Governor Patterson's office. This was the latest in a series of events in New York City that have focused on immigrant's rights and reform, the passage of the Dream Act and responses to the increase in enmity and attacks on Latinos and people with various racial, ethnic, religious and LGBTQ identities. Standing on the Side of Love with people from Make the Road New York, the New York Immigrant Coalition, and people from many different faiths and backgrounds, I renewed my commitment to building partnerships and coalitions. Yesterdays' Rally was part of the essential struggle for immigrant rights. Here in New York, if someone is stopped for the most minor of offenses, like a parking violation, they can be detained and the New York police, whose duty it is to keep the peace and assure the safety of all persons, are often called to turn over people suspected of being undocumented. So many families are separated and parents deported. The police cannot safeguard the general public with their dual role as police and immigration officers. And many undocumented immigrants do not report crimes or injuries out of fear of deportation and their families being torn apart.

When I first learned of these practices, I thought they parallel Arizona SB 1070! All of us in this country are in danger of having draconian practices, policies and laws with the ignited fears and prevalent myths about immigrants. In spite of temperatures in the 20's, a number of Unitarian Universalists gathered in Manhattan found our spirits warmed as we "stood on the side of love" in solidarity with many other groups.

The strength of our Standing on the Side of Love advocacy and witness efforts is its broad based appeal to many faiths and community organizations. Standing on the Side of Love means that my colleague and friend, Gonzalo Mercado, from El Centro del Inmigrante, noted, "I see you more often here in Manhattan than on Staten Island." He knows he can count on me because of the relationships we are building. Later that evening at an Anti Bias Summit on Staten Island, we talked about ways the Unitarian Church of Staten Island can increasingly work with El Centro and other immigrant groups. He expressed his affection for our church and I assured him that we feel a real connection with El Centro. There will be many more Rallies, phone calls, Summits and times when we work together on deepening the bonds of love and justice between us. That is the power of Standing on the Side of Love during this chilly time of year, or the excruciating heat of the summer just past and all other seasons in between. ~The Rev. Susan Karlson, Minister, Unitarian Church of Staten Island