All creation groans. There is no spiritual bypass available to us after an ICE agent killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero of Biddeford. There is no silver lining to the trauma that Johan’s 3-year-old daughter and wife are now experiencing.

To those who say that ICE agents targeted the wrong individual, there is no “right individual” who should’ve been the victim.

To those who say that Johan and his family should’ve entered the U.S. “legally,” fleeing one’s homeland for a chance at a peaceful life is not a crime punishable by death.

Remember, especially when we look up at orange skies caused by recent wildfire smoke; all life yearns to move when home becomes unsafe.

With those who weep, we weep. For those offering spiritual care, friendship, or parenting, we pray for softness. For those speaking truth to evil, meeting the eye of those who deny our sacredness, we pray for steadfastness.

In Maine, we already share community with displaced people. In my work in Portland, developing spiritual leadership for a climate-changed world with the BTS Center, I see that we are not only the ones to open our doors; we may also someday be the ones who knock.

The test of our humanity will be who we are when we open the door, no matter where we find ourselves today.

Rev. Nicole Diroff
Scarborough