Unwanted

We have this bowl in our bedroom into which OilMan empties the loose change in his pockets every evening. If I remember, I pick the quarters out of it to put in the parking meter so I don't have to wait for the machine to keep me standing there while it is "contacting bank for authorization" if I use a credit card. 

I have seen "human interest stories" on television about dropping coins of various denominations on the floor of a place like Grand Central Station and reporting on how many people pause to pick them up. Stores often have jars of pennies next to the cash register in case one is needed to make exact change. But basically, it is reported, small change is not considered worth the bother of picking up.

When Tim was a fairly young boy, he got a big jar and began putting pennies in it. By the time he was ready to off to college, the whole family sat on the floor one evening and made up penny rolls with little sleeves we got from the bank. The bank wouldn't take them unrolled, but when Tim took his rolls in, they were worth $100.

I can't help comparing the bowl of coins to the flow of people* leaving their homes, towns and countries because they are so torn apart by violence and war that they are no longer safe or even livable. They are arriving at borders in such numbers that other countries don't know what to do with them. Yet these are  people --parents, brothers grandmothers, children and babies.They deserve to be, counted and given safe haven somewhere, yet they are being moved on, shuffled around, denied food and shelter and discarded.

I admire Angela Merkel and the German people for serving as an example and opening their country, their homes and their hearts to these refugees. I was happy to hear that Obama has paved the way for 10,000 immigrants to enter the US. We should take more, but it is better than the 1,500 we have taken so far. We bear a lot of responsibility for the plight of these people for creating the conditions which contributed to the destabilization of so many countries.

Our country is built and continues to thrive because of migrants. We are a country of migrants. I think we have a moral obligation to take care of refugees we are largely responsible for having created. We could start raising the money by cutting the Pentagon budget.

*Migrant--a person who moves from one place to another on order to find work
  Refugee--a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster
--Oxford Dictionary