Bless all the children

I am in a state of emotional rage and I’m struggling to focus on the simplest of tasks–tasks as simple as flossing or walking.
I can’t think straight and all I can think about is the images of children taken from their mothers at the U.S.-Mexican border, oftentimes removed with lies to garner co-operation, babies and toddlers torn from their mothers.
I can’t believe this can be happening, can’t believe these measures have been taken to protect what we think is ours alone, as though we have a greater claim to safety and freedom than others with whom we share this planet–our only claim to such is by virtue of where we were born.
And somehow, this seems to grant permission to do whatever it takes to keep others out.
I would hazard a guess that the majority of onlookers from around the world are sickened and outraged by the treatment of these people who seek a better life, who are fleeing violence and poverty, to find a life of safety for their children.
We would do the same if our children were starving, if we couldn’t keep our children safe, if our government was unable to control those forces that make life unbearable and terror-filled.
There are rules to follow, I understand that, but desperation leads to desperate acts.
In this moment, I am pointing my finger south of the border from us, but I am reminded that Canada’s record isn’t clean. We have a deep history of doing harm to children in this country; harm that would continue for more than a hundred years and affected the lives of 150,000 children.
Nor is the rest of the world blemish-free in regard to how we treat children.
One would think in 2018 we might have learned some valuable lessons from transgressions made in the past. Yet here we are watching yet again, a government wielding its cruel power over families, imprisoning children and feeling justified; claiming the law as its guide and even going so far as to quote the Bible in support of such cruelty.
These children will be forever changed, their natural path interrupted, the harm committed on them justified by some strategy to protect the wealth of others.
These children have no voice. Aren’t we meant to give them shelter from the storm, no matter the cause?
Some days it is too much to bear; the inhumanity too heavy to stand against. Today is one of those days for me and I hope by the time this is in print, things will have changed.
wendistewart@live.ca