Greg Mackie – Golden Rule Activism

I woke this morning ready to celebrate a happy Easter with Patricia’s family, only to hear the heartbreaking news of the terrorist attack in Sri Lanka that killed over two hundred people—many of whom were at church for Easter services.

My loving thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by this attack. And I would still like to wish everyone a happy Easter, even in the midst of tragedy. On a day that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, I pray that this sad act of hate will lead to the resurrection of kindness, compassion, and love.

Now that we are in April, I thought I’d give a little update on the work in Ciudad Juárez that will be my next major Golden Rule activism project. The wheels are turning slowly as usual, but they are turning. The way is being prepared, and I’ll be heading north for the border soon.

Continue reading “Preparing for Juárez”

The day after writing my post about going to Juárez to help those in need there, I was shocked to hear of the 49 people killed (and many more seriously wounded) by a gunman in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Loving thoughts and prayers to everyone touched by this horrific event. You can donate to help those who have been immediately impacted at this link. May this tragic expression of hate motivate us all to be more deeply committed to extending love to our brothers and sisters, whoever and wherever they may be.

After spending some relaxing time at home in Xalapa, I’ve now decided on the next stop in my humanitarian tour through Mexico. In April, I will be going to Ciudad Juárez to work with the the Juárez branch of the Salesianos, the same Catholic group I worked with in Tijuana.

Continue reading “Next stop: Ciudad Juárez”

Nine volunteers for No More Deaths, the Arizona migrant aid organization I volunteered with in January 2018, faced federal charges stemming from their humanitarian work on the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. The bad news is that earlier this year, four of those volunteers were found guilty. The good news is that last week, the charges against four other volunteers were dropped.

Read this article for a brief summary. You may also be interested in this CNN article by one of the volunteers whose charges were dropped (after the article was written), as it presents a more personal take on the events that have transpired. And as for Scott Warren, the volunteer whose case I was personally involved with (still no word whatsoever from the Border Patrol on the status of my computer and other personal items): His felony trial is now scheduled for May.

(In the map of the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge below, the red dots are the locations of known migrant deaths. There are, of course, many more that are unknown.)

I generally keep “action alert” posts on this blog to a minimum, but I feel that Donald Trump’s absurd and dangerous declaration of a “state of emergency” today cannot go without response.

The most eloquent response I’ve seen is from Jim Wallis (pictured below), a Christian pastor and founder of the faith-based activist group Sojourners. I’ve always appreciated his moral clarity, fair-minded engagement with different points of view, and kind but firm prophetic witness. His statement about Trump’s declaration is so on the nose that I would like to simply paste the bulk of it here. It includes instructions for how to call your elected representatives, which I highly recommend we all do. Let our voices be heard!

Here is Wallis’s statement: Continue reading “Stand lovingly and firmly against Trump’s “state of emergency” declaration”

We’ve all heard Donald Trump’s rants about “bad hombres” from ruthless gangs like MS-13 flooding over the US southern border. Of course, most of it is nonsense. MS-13 started in Los Angeles before being exported to El Salvador and other Latin American countries, and the Border Patrol’s own statistics show that the percentage of 2017 undocumented border crossers who were MS-13 members was 0.075 percent. Hardly a flood.

That being said, these gangs are real and do serious harm to people (it’s ironic that I’m writing this on the day that the notorious Mexican drug lord El Chapo was convicted in New York), so it’s reasonable to ask what can be done about them. The answer to that question is many faceted, but here I’d like to focus on one man who knows the problem from the inside. He is Gerardo Lopez, one of the leaders of an organization called Homies Unidos.

Continue reading “A more loving approach to “bad hombres””

I haven’t had too much to report since returning from Tijuana. I’ve been looking into other ways to be of service and there are some possibilities lining up for the future, but right now I’m on a bit of a break. We’re enjoying some quality time with Patricia’s daughter Marina, who is visiting.

Of course I’ve been following US news, including reports of the bitter cold in the Midwest. We have friends in Chicago and in Michigan, and thank goodness they’re all doing fine. Meanwhile, it’s 63 degrees here as I write this. 🙂

As always, I’m inspired by the many acts of kindness we see in response to events like the cold snap. Here’s an article about one such act of kindness in Chicago:

Good Samaritan Helps 70 Homeless People Stay In Hotel During Polar Vortex

In my last blog, I said that my time in Tijuana was “unforgettable, truly life-changing.” Now that I’ve had a few peaceful days in Xalapa to reflect (with our cat firmly planted on my lap!), I’d like to share a little about what made the experience so impactful.

Continue reading “Reflections on my time in Tijuana”

I’ve returned home after eighteen days in Tijuana. I’m in our Mexico City apartment and will be taking the bus back in Xalapa Monday afternoon. My time in Tijuana was unforgettable, truly life-changing. After taking some time to reflect, I’ll be sharing some thoughts about the experience as a whole. But before I do that, I thought I’d share a little about what my volunteer days at the Proyecto Salesiano were like.

Continue reading “Volunteer days in Tijuana”