The trip to the borderlands has convinced me of the importance of first person interactions.  It makes a huge difference to SEE the reactions of people who are treated kindly.  Their smiles.  It makes a difference to hear the calm, humble demeanor of those who help.  To hear a volunteer say she does not judge our government.  It makes a difference to see militarization first hand.  To see Texas Highway Patrol cover their faces in a speed boat to protect themselves and their families from the cartels.  These are stories that need to be told.

I was also struck by the lack of anger.  I only saw anger expressed once by a leader of a non-profit who is angry at the billions (yes, I said billions) spent on the ineffectual wall.  NBC reported in June 2013 that a GAO analysis found “the cost of pedestrian fencing ranged between $400,000 and $15 million per mile with an average of $3.9 million a mile.”  The people we met are more at peace living in borderland tension than the rest of America.  I often hear people speak with prejudice about immigrants equal to what I heard about African Americans in the 60s. 

The ‘60s too was a time of change and fear.  Fear of dissolution of the world “as I know it.”  One border leader said we are guilty of “NIMBY-ism” meaning “not in my backyard”.   We were told about the wall dividing a rancher’s land.  (The wall is not built at the literal border.)  The rancher asked how he was to get his cattle to the other side for grazing.  The builders offered to build a gate with a code so he could open it.  The rancher declined saying he did not want a code for the cartel would beat him to get the code.   

The people I met living in the borderlands seemed to demonstrate the peace that surpasses understanding despite being in the midst of turmoil and struggle.  To me they appeared to be an in-breaking of the Kingdom of God.

Wenday Manuel