Or else let them come to me for refuge; let them make peace with me, yes, let them make peace with me." – Isaiah 27:5

Today's Scripture Reading (April 5, 2023): Isaiah 27

In the late 1800s, there was a Scramble for Africa as European powers sought to divide the land for its own prosperity. The Scramble set up the African nations for a struggle to survive for the next century and beyond, and Africa still suffers from the effects of the Scramble today. In 1870, ten percent of Africa was controlled by Europeans. By 1914 and the onset of the First World War, that percentage had increased to ninety. By the beginning of World War I, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained independent of European dominance. The beginning of the Scramble for Africa is often dated to the Berlin Conference in 1884, but by then, the Scramble had really already begun as Europe looked for the African nations that they wanted to take under their exploitive wings.

It is against the backdrop of this Scramble for Africa that we need to read the poem that has found a permanent residence at the base of the Statue of Liberty. The poem "The New Colossus" features the lines,

            Give me your tired, your poor,

            Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

            The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

            Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me

            I lift my lamp beside the golden door (Emma Lazarus)!

Emma Lazarus's words took on new significance when Donald Trump was at the helm of the United States. As Trump turned his vision inward and spoke of the "sh**hole" nations that were sending their "poor huddled masses, yearning to be free" to the United States, we began to reinterpret the words that grace the base of the Statue of Liberty. But we need to read the whole poem to really understand what Emma Lazarus was trying to say with her work.

Lazarus wrote the poem in 1883, a year before the 1884 Berlin Conference was called to discuss the future of the African nations. And the poem's opening words sound like a direct shot at the European activities in Africa.

            Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

            With conquering limbs astride from land to land: (an allusion to the Greek Colossus)

            Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

            A mighty woman with a torch whose flame

            Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

            Mother of Exiles (Emma Lazarus).

The New Colossus would not take its place keeping watch over the conquerors but rather as a figure that welcomed the conquered being gathered to its shores. It is a choice, but America would not be concerned with ruling over Africa, nor would they allow any foreign nation to rule over the countries on this shore.

And then Lazarus declares, "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp! She cries with silent lips" (Emma Lazarus). This is not who we are on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Isaiah says something similar to his audience in what amounts to one of the forgotten promises of the Hebrew Bible. In the preceding verse, God announces his willingness to march against the "briars and thorns confronting me" (Isaiah 27:4)! But he also presents a choice. You could come to me, and I will give you refuge. You could make peace with me. But the choice is up to you. We can struggle, or we can surrender and allow the peace of God to fill our lives. God calls us to

Give me your tired, your poor,

            Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

            The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

            Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.

And I [God] will give you rest. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 28