Intransigent

     not everyone is open to compromise even when  the choice between refusing to move a bit toward the center creates a dire situation for 800,000 young people who wait and wait to know what tomorrow looks like

     sometimes it’s necessary to take an absolute moral stand—but this is not about taking such a position—this is about demanding your way, about holding hostage to get what you want— this is about forgetting the other

     have we forgotten the stories of welcoming the stranger, of being open to the other

     have we forgotten that we or our parents or their parents or back to the first settlers were once strangers in this land

     have we lost our way, mired in a place where guns are worshipped, violence in the media is commonplace, where the alt-right gains followers, where racial and anti-semitic remarks are made too frequently, where people are demonized, where white is lionized, where discrimination against LGBTQ people is acceptable, where the rich get richer and the poor lose out, where too many people are homeless and we call hunger food insecurity instead of hunger

     have we lost our way 

     maybe we can begin finding a pathway back by welcoming the dreamers, by remembering that we were once strangers

     “ ...you know the soul of a stranger”  Rabbi Sacks