Streams of Mercy

The caravan of migrants from Central America continues its journey toward a better life. I’ve come to know a few of them by name. Miriam Carranza and her family struggled with low pay and little job security and soaring inflation in Honduras, but the final straw came when a local gang demanded payment of a “war tax” that far exceeded the income of her construction worker husband. “They said they would kill one of my daughters if we didn’t pay,” Carranza said. Clean-cut, baby-faced and cradling his six-month-old-son, Gerson Martinez, 22, hardly looks the part of an invader. Like many other members of the caravan, he left Honduras because of the crime and murder rates. For him, the final straw came when he was approached by a local gang that pressured him to store weapons in his apartment. Juan, 33, joined the caravan with his wife and children, 2 and 10. He’s a day laborer, but it’s been a long time since he’s had a job. He says that in his neighborhood, criminals kidnap children to force them to join gangs, while the authorities look the other way. Ariceli says she left El Salvador to get away from the violence. “We received threats, extortion. They wanted at least $50 a month. But we have to pay food, water, light, rent….We have three kids and they’re all boys, and boys suffer the most from the violence in El Salvador.”

These days I find myself remembering a song from the past, “Caravan of Love.” It was the biggest hit of the Isley brothers, topping the charts for three in months in l985. “I had been looking at the world scene quite a bit,” said Chris Isley, “and I wasn’t pleased with what I was seeing. I just felt that we all needed a positive message. I had the melody in my head for about four months before I put pen to paper. When I did, I wrote the song in twenty minutes, and those lyrics just poured out. Here are a few stanzas of this special song:

“We'll be living in a world of peace In a day when everyone is free We'll bring the young and the old Won't you let your love flow from your heart? Now the children of the world can see

There's a better way for us to be The place where mankind was born

Is so neglected and torn, torn apart

I'm your brother, don't you know We'll be living in a world of peace In a day when everyone is free Chorus:

Every woman, every man Join the caravan of love

Join the caravan of love.

I think again of the caravan making its way from Central America. I think of the “caravan of love” the Isley brothers sang about, praying for the day to come when “every woman, every man” will join the caravan of love; when love will “flow from our hearts” and we’ll see the “better way for us to be” ….. in a day when everyone is free…”

Elizabeth