Monday Musings ... Politics

 Over thirty years ago, I graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science.  Since receiving my degree, I have taken classes at Ball State University, Penn State, and the University of Tennessee. I am a lifelong learner.

While I value my degrees, some of my important lessons have been outside the university classroom. Around 1994, I began to discover the plight of the refugees. First it was the Lost Boys from the Sudan. Then, it was the Kurds from Northern Iraq.  The lessons were not a part of a textbook, but rather as a member of a Belmont Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

Belmont began to serve refugee families. Our church provided clothing, housing assistance, medical care, food, and developed friendships. Parents would enroll their children in the school system where I taught.  It was there I began to have a heart for refugees.

Next week, I will return to the front of a classroom. Most of the students will be refugees.  Some students may be from Iraq, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, or Bhutan.  I find it fascinating that from world wide conflict will impact communities around the states. It is because of this and more, I continue to be a student of politics. It impacts our daily lives.

There are not enough laws to make people love and care about others.   Love and compassion are rarely found in political systems. Those qualities are always found in God and sometimes in God’s people.