Last week I managed to attend ¾ of a day of the December Rohatsu Retreat, which went on beautifully without me. ¾ of a day because my ailing stomach didn’t settle enough till late morning. During meals we did a shortened version of a meal grace written by the former abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles, Egyoku Nakao, part of which follows:

“Considering where this food has come from and the many labors that have brought it to us, we resolve to strengthen our body, enlighten our mind and enrich our spirit. Reflecting on all those who are in need of nourishment, we eat this food… Resolving to help all those who strive to break their addictions and delusions, we eat this food. Vowing to attain our goals, we eat this food.”

I had chanted these words many times. This time what hit me wasn’t the resolution or vow, but the pulse of all things. Without any effort on my part, I resonate with everything and everything resonates with me. Put more simply, resonance is everywhere, cells quivering in response to everything taking place in the universe, most of which we’re not even conscious of.

Just as scientists discovered, upon attaching electrodes to leaves, that the leaves tremble a tiny bit when a human being walks by them, I’m sure that one day they’ll discover that we humans invisibly pulse with explosions of distant stars. The system knows, the body knows, even when the mind doesn’t. In that spirit, please let me share with you what you and I are resonating with now, consciously or unconsciously, be it in my neighborhood or yours.

I had breakfast with Jimena and Byron Pareja on Sunday morning. Naturally, the first thing I asked about was ICE raids; it’s what everyone always asks about. Yes, Jimena detailed a few raids, with one or two people deported. But it was what she described behind the scenes that created profound unease:

“They cut part of the funding for my second job at [a particular local nonprofit] helping immigrant children and their parents,” she said.

“Our local government?” Our local Selectboard council that makes decisions in this oh-so-progressive Valley?

“They say they have to. And we had to change the names of the programs to delete any reference to immigrants or, as they’re sometimes called, new Americans; they say it’s a red flag for the Feds and they want to play it safe. That includes ESL programs (English as a Second Language), where they have actually taken out references to ESL. I have my job with the schools, but they have cut off so many other positions that I now cover more towns and, of course, no raise. And you know the subsidized housing across from the school?”

“I used to pick up mothers and kids there years ago who needed a lift to see a doctor.”

“Till now the subsidies fluctuated with the families’ income. Now they established a low-level subsidy that never fluctuates regardless of how bad things get, and as you know, in winter things get very bad. The DTA program, part of SNAP, used to give out food to anyone with a social security number, so undocumented residents would send their children who had those numbers to pick up food. They changed the rules and now the kids have to come with at least one parent who has such a number, otherwise no more food.”

Programs earmarked for immigrants—legal and non—are being eliminated. She also described a trip she took with teenagers to our State Senator in Boston, where the teens testified to what is happening at home.

“The girls cried as they described what it was like to go to school with no certainty that their parents will be home when they return. With farms closed and the fear of ICE, parents try to minimize their risks in restaurants and stay home. I always thought about the risks to parents—deportation, no money for rent, food, utilities, but I didn’t really get how much support the girls need, too. The staff was weeping along with them as they told their stories. And now we’re entering the worst season because the parents, working fewer hours in the farms over the summer, weren’t able to save enough money for the winter. We’ll need food support for holidays and drivers ed for anyone who needs a license [I wrote her a check for five such courses on Sunday]. People are very, very afraid.”

Jimena pointed out something I hadn’t thought of. Maybe worse than ICE arrests are the institutional changes that are happening even in very progressive towns like ours. English language and citizenship classes, school programs, nonprofit offerings—all these are being eliminated, reduced, or revised in order not to draw unwanted attention. Even though so many individuals have organized to protect vulnerable neighbors, the big institutions—including local governments, nonprofits, and big employers like the universities and schools—are nervously reducing their offerings to align somewhat more with federal anti-immigrant guidelines—creating untold harm not just to undocumented families but also to all immigrants.

What’s it like when your children are afraid for you? Afraid of losing you? Afraid of going to school and coming back to an empty house? Your life and mine resonate with all this, it’s impossible for any of us to remain unaffected.

After taking a brief hiatus, over this coming winter I’ll more actively ask for help for these families. “I didn’t ask for money during the fall, as long as the farms were open, but winter came early and we will need help from generous people,” Jimena told me.

First thing is buying 75 Christmas gifts for the children, our annual tradition over the past 5 years. You can find an Amazon list here of what they asked for. This includes 9 $25 gift cards which teenagers requested in order to save up for bigger purchases that are not on this list. The big majority of the gifts are under $30, some under $20, and just a few crossed the line into the low $30s.

Please buy these Christmas presents (or Chanukah, if you’re so inclined) for these children. I’m late with the list on account of illness, but if you hurry, they’ll still arrive at Jimena’s doorstep in time for her family to wrap them up in beautiful holiday giftwrap and distribute them in time for Christmas.

This is not a sob story, it’s asking all of us to have faith in ourselves, in them, and yes, even in the American dream. I will probably write about that on Friday, but for now, have such faith. These holiday gifts are very important for many reasons, not least of which is our showing the children that they have a place here and that we believe in them and in their future. Again, you can find that list here.