The Immigrants Who Reside Among You (Doug Pagitt)

"When others are fleeing the persecution and terrible oppression that is upon them and they enter a new land, they are to be welcomed, they are to be included, they are to be part of the whole." What do you think President Trump and his fans would say about that? And then what would you say or do in response? // Deuteronomy 26:1-11 When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lordyour God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an immigrants, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.” You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the immigrants who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house. // This episode was written and recorded by Doug Pagitt. It was produced by Rev. Jim Keat. Background tracks include Button Mushrooms by Podington Bear, and I'll Miss You by Will Bangs. Visit www.trcnyc.org/BeStillAndGo to listen to more episodes from all three seasons of Be Still and Go.