(an excerpt from SOULJOURN, my new novel)
We worked all day. Dad and Rachel were on one team, Father Crespi and I were on
another, refilling tanks, cleaning up trash around them, and placing new
ones. Five new blue flags, marking
the new tanks, waved defiantly against the demon of thirst, and fluttered in
the breeze over the desert at sundown that evening. The crew enjoyed a dinner at Rachel's house prepared by the
Women's Society of the Federated Church.
"So Karl," said Father Crespi. "Your son, Josh here, he is a fine
young man."
I was enjoying my dad's further discomfort.
"Yeah, he is. A fine young knucklehead. I mean, a fine young man.”
"You have raised him well. By yourself, I understand?" said
Father Crespi, between forks full of tuna casserole.
"Yes, so anything he does wrong, you can
blame me for it," answered Dad.
"And whatever he does right, you can claim
credit for it, too." said Pastor Kate.
"I wouldn't go that far," said
Dad. "I'm only his
father."
"So does Josh get his curiosity about
religion from you?" asked Father Crespi.
"Like I say, I'm only his father. That is an area where he can take all
the credit for himself," said Dad. Dad was really in over his head now. I noticed that from the head of the
table, silently, Rachel Parmenter was watching Dad, her eyes smiling with soft
wrinkles. "So it’s my turn to
ask a few questions," Dad continued.
"Why are you religious folks so interested in mojados?"
Pastor Kate was ready with an answer. "Because that is what we are
called to do as Christians: to stand with the poor and oppressed. So we formed an interfaith, ecumenical
covenant group to address the issues of migrants, and came up with a plan of
action."
"You think this is going to solve the
problem? Putting water out there
for them to drink? Hey," said
Dad, waving his fork for emphasis, "I don't think the US immigration
policy makes any sense either. Not
that I have any alternatives to propose.
But let's get realistic here.
You put water stations in the desert, that just attracts the mojados. More of them come across, more of them
die. You make it hard for them,
deny them water, fewer come across, fewer of them die. It sounds harsh, but when you look at
it practically...."
"Karl," said Rachel, "when you
are dealing with human beings, when you see them suffering, sometimes you do
things for them that aren't entirely practical.”
Website: JIMBURKLO.COM Weblog: MUSINGS Follow me on twitter: @jtburklo
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Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California