I am undocumented. Like an illegal immigrant. Actually, I am trying to get all the paperwork settled for me to be a visiting fellow at Yale this semester, and it just isn't working smoothly and to be honest I feel like an illegal immigrant. My previous employment, health insurance, etc. is being called into question, and I have little familiarity with the system which I am trying to work. Fortunately, I do have a few people advocating on my behalf, and I do speak the language and look like I fit in to some extent, so I get away with most things I do, but I still kind of feel like a refugee here: I don't have an ID card, I have been shunned from some classes, I live kind of far from campus... I am not complaining; on the contrary, I am really happy to be here on whatever the terms may be, but it is interesting to get even an infinitesimal taste of what it feels like to be an undocumented immigrant or refugee.

Imagine what Jesus and Mary and Joseph must have felt like when they were refugees in Egypt. It is remarkable that God could first become a "refugee" in incarnating his eternal Word in the form of Jesus, and then (as if that's not enough) Jesus became a refugee within that system, lived homeless, and received his daily bread by the kindness and mercy of others. Hey they could make an action figure of Jesus as a refugee and call it "Refujesus..." it might make a lot of money.