First Parish in Lexington is excited to display a temporary art installation called “On the Way” in front of the church at 7 Harrington Road.  

Created in the tradition of Christmas nativity scenes, it uses the motif of road signs to draw attention to the issue of immigrant justice. Hovering over the vulnerable Holy Family and the animals of the stable are images of state coercion and force. Like so many families living in fear in our country today, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were immigrants who sought refuge in a foreign land (Matthew 2). ”On the Way” is by Jonathan Barachowitz, a mixed-media artist of Puerto Rican and Jewish heritage who lives and works in the Boston area. 

Four neighboring churches (First Parish in Lexington, First Parish in Lincoln, First Parish in Concord, and First Parish in Bedford) have come together to commission and display this art installation, which is intended to move us out of our comfort zones and into deeper reflection and action. Each church will host the installation for one week of Advent, accompanied by a vigil, as we pray and work for more just treatment of immigrants in our midst.

First Parish has held a vigil every evening since the work was installed. All are invited to the 2 remaining vigils, on Dec. 5 and 6 from 5:30 – 6:00 pm. At each vigil, we have heard from those who work with immigrants who have been forcibly removed from the life they held. We stand with those who protest regularly at the ICE detention center in Burlington. We share compassion for the families who are being terrorized—families who are afraid to send their children to school, who are afraid to go to work, who know that if they are sent back to the country from which they fled, that they will face terrifying violence. In the words of poet Warsan Shire, “No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark.”  

Let this work cause us to reflect on the values that we each hold and consider our own roles in resisting the violence and degradation imposed upon vulnerable people today. Whatever your own faith background, may these images help you to open your hearts to those who are suffering, as we consider what might have happened to Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus if they were born in America today. In this season of Advent, we pray that Love will indeed be born again into this hurting world.  


Sincerely,
Rev. Anne Mason, Sr. Minister, First Parish in Lexington

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