the freehearted hospitality of God

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? 
Can such faith save them? 
Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food [and water]. 
If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, [drink up!]” 
but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

James 2:14-17 [areas in brackets my own interpolations]

People leave their homes and travel north because they have to, not because they want to. 
War, civil strife, natural disaster; poverty, hunger, and fear drive them.

(In his own remarks, later in the program, the mayor pointed out that people come north 
for many reasons - but for none of them does anyone deserve to die in the desert of thirst.)

And sometimes they are welcomed home in a place they have never been before. 
We drink from others’ wells - we all do. 
Let us remember as we bless these trucks with holy water and pious words 
that they carry to others the lifegiving water for which we all share the need.

Bless the drivers; keep them safe.

Bless the trucks; keep them running.

Bless the travelers - bring them safe across the desert to a place they do [may] not know.

And to the people they may never meet, may this work today be a witness 
to the freehearted hospitality of God.

Amen.

Remarks prepared for the blessing of the fleet of water trucks at Humane Borders,
Tucson, Arizona.

Humane Borders

Participants in the Blessing of the Fleet, 2018, April 15

The Rev. Dr. John Leech,

Priest of the Episcopal Church

Rev. Mateo Chavez

Pastor of Lutheran Spanish Language congregation,

San Juan Bautista

Fr. John Erickson,

Orthodox Church of America,

Professor Emeritus, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary

Mayor, Jonathan Rothschild

(earlier President of Temple Emanu-el) Rabbi Aaron is in Poland.

Abbot Ajahn Sarayut Amanta

Tucson Buddhist Meditation Center and Wat Buddhametta

Dan Abbot/Norm Baker (Volunteers with Humane Borders)

Rev. Ailsa Gonzalez

First Christian Church

On whose property Humane Borders was born

Dinah Bear

Chair of Board of Directors, Humane Borders

Moderator: Rev. John Hoelter, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

People need water

People need water. 

It's that simple.

Ask an astronomer from the University of Arizona: when they look for signs of life in the universe, they look for signs of water. Why? 

Because where there's water there is the possibility of life. Where there isn't, there ain't. 

Three percent of the surface water on earth is drinkable. Almost none of it is in the desert. 

But it's true here too: where there is water...

That's why we're here today.

We thank you, Lord, for the gift of life and the gift of water and the gift of each human life. Help us to reach out in compassion to our fellow human creatures who need this water to sustain life.

Bless these trucks and their drivers as they carry life-giving water into the desert. Guide the people who need it to drink it, and protect them on their journey.



(Blessing the fleet of water trucks for Humane Borders.)