Today is Imbolc, the cross-quarter day in the cycle of the year between winter solstice and spring equinox. It celebrates the new stirrings of life under the cold of snow. When I took a walk this morning, I saw the well-traveled paths of deer in our back and front yards, and decided to follow the road where I could see them also in other yards. So my walk took a different direction, and I noticed that most of the deer paths led to yew bushes, in our yard and in other yards. Winter food. I am happy that our little sign marking us as a Wildlife Habitat is still true in winter. I notice they also visit the bird feeder, and drink from the water we leave out there in a heated bird bath.

This winter has been more like old winters with lots of snow, and temperatures below freezing for days on end. For some reason, the deep snow comforts me in the face of another kind of ICE, the cruel and relentless attacks on immigrant neighbors, especially in Minnesota, but then for the last couple weeks intensifying here in Maine as well. Just a mile from our house, an 18 year old boy was taken, Jean-Pierre Obiang, a student at the University of Southern Maine. I am one of those radicals that believe borders are not the way, but even so, most of the people ICE has detained, including Jean-Pierre, are fully documented and following the legal process for being in the United States.

Like so many others, I have been devastated by the murders of legal observers Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and the lesser known murder of Keith Porter, Jr. in Los Angeles. But I have also been inspired and heartened by the up-swelling of community resistance and mutual aid that have filled the streets of Minneapolis and spread across the country. I have been inspired by my clergy colleagues here in Maine who have stood out in the cold to protect immigrant workers on their way in and out of their jobs. I follow along on social media, and try to spread the word.

And today, in another stirring of new life, came the news that five-year old Liam and his father Adrian were brought back safe to Minnesota by Congressman Joaquin Castro. They should never have been taken, and Liam’s face, in his little blue bunny hat, as ICE was trying to use him as bait to capture other members of his family, was seared into my heart. I prayed every day for them to come home from where they were held in Texas, and now I am so grateful that they are home. But how long will it be before all the children, and all the families, and all the people are set free? May the stirring of Imbolc light the fires of resistance and interconnection for all of us.