Jul
7
Written by:
Felicia Fox
7/7/2010 8:28 AM
Last week, I made it all the way to Maine. I had my lobster. The trip was great and a much needed break. On my way back down the coast, I stopped in New York City. I saw lots of landmarks of the city. I saw Central Park, Time Square, and the Statue of Liberty. My favorite spot was Ellis Island.
On the second floor of the main building was an exhibit that took you through the process the immigrants had to pass before being welcomed into America. It was amazing and heartbreaking. As we left the exhibit hall my friend said, “That she felt like we have just left the holocaust museum.” Ellis Island was a place of great heartache and hope.
I hadn’t realized just how hard it was for the immigrants to make the cut to be let into America. They had to pass physical test, mental test, moral tests, and prove they would be good citizens before being let off the island. If someone failed a test they were kept on the island until they were physically well enough to go into America or be sent back to their home country. Many didn’t make it off the island. They died there in the medical facilities.
I found the stories of those who were separated from their families hard to read. I can’t image coming all the way to American from another country only to be turned away and separated from my family forever. Most of those who came through Ellis Island had spent everything they had on the trip to get there. They were shipped back home and discarded with no hope of every finding the American dream.
I had to ask myself, what made the immigrants so willing to risk everything to come to America? It was the promise of a new life and freedom. That’s what brought many immigrants and still brings them to America. Couldn’t the same be said of Christ? With a relationship with him we are given a chance to be free from our sins and to live a new life. There are no tests we have to pass or no way to earn this new life. It is given freely based by the grace of God. Let’s try not to take that for granted anymore.
Copyright ©2010 Felicia Fox