Patty Mayeux Blog

It is easy to dismiss or avoid contact with strangers; those who express their culture, love, gender, nationality and religious beliefs differently. I believe all people are deserving of equal treatment and acceptance, but living that truth is a different matter. While I work to fill social gaps created by a recent move, I encounter open arms in every group to which I have dragged my newbie self. Welcome, Stranger is the message. The fact that it has been easy for me to assimilate in this neighborhood that is not so different from my last one is not lost on me. Street names have changed, but the language and general rules of getting around and living in this society are the same. What of those who land in a foreign place without the benefit of language, resources and even acceptance? We say this country is founded on equality and freedom, but the truth of our history is one of hate-filled prejudice toward groups of people who come from somewhere else. As a country, we continue to turn our backs on those who come. They are different, we don’t understand them and that makes us uncomfortable. Don’t confuse those hesitations with fear despite what some media outlets would have you believe. Check your sources. If it comes from fear it is meant to sway public opinion. If it comes from love, it just may be a call from God urging us on to compassion for all. My Wednesday Substack post, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, can be found here.