Dennae Pierre is the Executive Director of Surge Network in Phoenix, Arizona as well as one of the Co-Directors for The Crete Collective and City to City North America. You can find her book at www.restorativeleaders.com
Our world is too small
Economic crisis, violence, mass death
our minds struggle to show concern
when the stories come from outside
the walls of our own nation
We are sojourners in this place
No allegiance can be pledged
Jesus’ kingdom is our only home
We analyze, debate
Make plans and ideate
Unaware of the ways our action
Impact the lands of our neighbors
What responsibility do we have
to the poor and suffering of the world?
That question is not simply directed to the nation
But it is a question to God’s people
That reside and have been given power in this land
Our brothers and sisters flee
From violence
With sore feet
And displaced families
They migrate
Leaving behind war,
Loved ones,
Aromas, foods
Language, and lands
We too are aliens, foreigners
We should not be fluent
In the language of our present nation
Our first language should be that of heaven
Which recognizes the sounds of the world’s hell
Translating a welcome
To migrating and suffering souls
It is not strangers who arrive at our city gates
And border walls
But often it is
Fellow citizens of heaven
Or it is those, who have not yet heard
The good news of God
And come asking for our help
Our world is too small
If what we are most concerned about
Lives within the boundaries
Of this small nation