The Value of Perspective

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Despite being fully vaccinated and boosted, and being what I thought was “careful,” I recently tested positive for COVID-19.

I’m fortunate to have relatively good health, despite my age, so I think I’ll be OK. I thought I simply had a bad cold with lots of coughing, hacking and nose blowing, but those symptoms evidently mimic COVID, that nasty virus that has changed all our lives.

Several times I thought I was on the road to recovery but several nights ago, I had a terrible night with little sleep. I rose in the morning feeling sorry for myself, then read the morning newspaper, where I saw this story: “More than 160 migrants drowned in two separate shipwrecks off Libya over the past week,” according to a United Nations migration official.

How You Look At Things

Ah, perspective! How it changes the way you look at things! How does my one sleepless night compare to the tragedies faced daily by so many people?

The dictionary says perspective is, literally, observing “the spatial relation of objects as they might appear to the eye.” A secondary dictionary definition is “the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance.”

Both mean seeing the same reality from a different angle. And reading about the migrants forced me to see my situation from a different angle, from that of a person privileged to live in a developed country and having medical and financial resources to treat my ills.

And this brings me to the subject of migration and its causes. But first off, how is this relevant to a blog meant as “a discussion of faith, belief and religion for people who have given up on God and/or religion?”

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It’s relevant because faith isn’t just a matter of belief. Acquiring and maintaining faith, in my view, is just as much a matter of doing as believing. At least in the Judeo-Christian tradition, it’s a matter of love of God and neighbor, and love of neighbor requires action even if it’s “only” prayer.

According to the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, conflict and human rights abuses, mostly in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea, are the primary factors that contribute to migration in the Mediterranean. “Localized, familial and gender-based conflict was also a driver of migration from other countries,” it says.

What isn’t mentioned is poverty and inequality, which is obviously shared by virtually all migrants, in the Mediterranean and everywhere in the world.

A recent report by the Hope Border Institute, as reported in the National Catholic Reporter, unsurprisingly noted that migration to the U.S. from Central Americans is fueled by “poverty, gang violence or domestic violence.” Among Mexicans surveyed, “violence and threats were the primary reason for choosing to leave their homes, especially the forced conscription of young men into gangs run by drug cartels.”

Not Our Problems?

So can people searching for God say, “These are not our problems?” Are we really helpless in trying to make life better so people don’t need to migrate? Can we just proceed with business as usual? Do opponents of migrants really want things to continue as they are?

The Hebrew Bible is filled with exhortations to aid “widows and orphans” and all others in need, including “foreigners.” Jesus continually urged his followers to action. “I was hungry and you gave me food, thirsty and you gave me drink….”

Today, action may mean voting for people who will do what we can to help struggling countries, reform immigration laws and treat migrants with compassion. It may also mean writing letters and making calls to our representatives, contributing to organizations that help migrants and when the opportunity arises, directly assisting them.

These actions, of course, make sense only when we put things into perspective.