Immigration and the Elections: Attention and Imagination Required

"As Americans vote for our leaders this week, I hope that we use both our attention and our imagination; that we remember our origin as a nation of immigrants; that we recall the wonders of immigrant innovation and the resulting benefits we enjoy; and that we call to mind our "power to experience a crowded, hot, slow, consumer-hell type situation as not only meaningful, but sacred, on fire with the same force that made the stars: love, fellowship, the mystical oneness of all things deep down."  I hope as we enter the "other . . . dimension" of the voting booth, "a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind," that we are not entranced into reflexive thinking about "the so-called real world of men and money and power [which] hums merrily along in a pool of fear and anger and frustration and craving and worship of self."  Although our "present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom," I hope we remember that elections trigger consequences, and that precious lives and futures depend on our choices. ... I hope we choose leaders who are likely to welcome rather than reject our nation's courageous and deserving immigrants." - Angelo A. Paparelli, Nov. 4, 2012.