Today I start blogging again...great!

It is Dec 2, and tomorrow we will be leaving for Belgium, arriving at Brussels the morning of the 4 of Dec. A few days later, a meeting starts - reason for the travel to Belgium - for a 4 day conference on Immigration. This is hosted by the Kingdom of Brussels and the State Dept., thru a facilitating agency : CDS International. A group of Americans and Belgians have been sharing for a year thru visits to each other's sites, thru talks, reports, and plain sharing, their knowledge and experiences in their work, which is intimately associated with immigration and its consequences in today's society.

Belgium is intent in the integration of society, addressing the needs of myriad of groups and the problems associated with that. Generally, we in the States are concerned with the issues around border crossing and the presence of 'unfamiliar' faces in our neighborhoods, and dealing with ways of making "those illegals" "go away".

Recognizing that the problem of immigration is a complex one, with multiple sides to it, I foresee an upcoming change in the near future: someway, somehow, Congress will deal with Comprehensive Immigration Reform, addressing the dynamic, 'multi-complex' problem that is so clamoring for a united front from the Federal perspective. The longer there is inaction, the longer the consequences - many of them dire to human rights, to the economy, to the individual States, to the social structure and fiber, to the religious entities and 'its body' in general, and finally, to the human spirit itself. The "American spirit" will be confronted with the changes being brought about by the new Administration, and its posture vis-a-vis the world, where it attempts to regain leadership in many fronts, esp. the moral front. To conjugate freedom, liberty, human rights, while suppressing already-in-cities immigrants, while building larger jails for the "present day trail of tears" version of immigrant deportation, while creating a hidden and economically underprivileged social underclass, etc., etc., is not sustainable for the United States nor its geographically dispersed and diverse societies.

Tomorrow I, we (those participating in the meeting), will be once again immersed in the subject, in its depth, it its obscure and dark spaces, and once again we will seek for a horizon of wellness, of hope, and will see glimpses of possibility 'out there', in the fringes of our intuition and souls' desires. And,while the inner purpose is determined, the process we are embarking on is definitely not 'soft'... But, you know what?:...Brussels, here we come!