We are all immigrants seeking asylum.

Now after they had left,

an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,

‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,

and remain there until I tell you;

for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’

-Matthew 2:13 (nrsv)

The story above is a perfect illustration of the definition for an emigre: a person who flees from his or her native land because of political conditions.

I know of an immigration attorney. Her clients mostly are ignorant of the ins and outs of immigration laws. Helping these individuals is her love and passion. And she's very good at it. She rarely loses her case. This attorney also has professional challenges that can make a lesser person drop it all and quit. Her faith and family and friends keep her grounded, strong, and determined to get through her difficulties.

I offered an image to her during one of our conversations: of her being an immigrant, and Reality (as she prefers to name the Nameless) as the True Immigration Attorney to help her enter and navigate this new and strange land. That her difficult experiences can be likened to what most of her clients (some are seeking asylum from political persecution in their native land) experience.

The services of an immigration attorney cost a lot of money and time. Seeing myself as that immigrant seeking asylum in God's Kingdom, I have to pay for His services, for the privilege to be in his care, with my life as I know it... I have to 'die in order to live.'

How about you? Jesus said: For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. How would these words affect the way you live right now?

O Lord, how many are my foes!

Many are rising against me;

Many are saying, "There is no help for you in God."

But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,

my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.

Deliverance belongs to the Lord;

May your blessings be on your people!

-from Psalm 3