Grief Tsunami

A poem by award winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye from her newest book (2026)

SIDEKICK 

 

                            Grief Tsunami 

Thinking

how Palestinians

would have stopped everything

to feed you.  

 

 

Sidekick

by Naomi Shihab Nye

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Written by internationally beloved poet Naomi Shihab Nye, Sidekick stands as a testament to poetry’s enduring power to bear witness. With each poem, Nye affirms a truth that feels more urgent than ever: every human being deserves safety, dignity, and peace.

Drawing on her family’s deep roots in Palestine, Nye writes with both abiding love and immeasurable heartbreak, offering intimate reflections that illuminate the human cost of conflict. Long a champion of dialogue across borders and divides, she crafts poems that are direct, conversational, and unafraid to confront the systems and structures that perpetuate harm.

Through her signature blend of candor, lyrical grace, and careful attention to everyday lives, Nye offers a collection that urges readers to look more closely, feel more deeply, and imagine a world in which we refuse to turn away from one another.  https://boaeditions.org/book/sidekick/

Dallas church’s Nativity evokes immigration detention centers, homelessness: The Nativity scene asks passersby to consider what it would look like if Jesus’ birth took place today.

Oak Lawn United Methodist Church’s Nativity scene depicts silhouettes of Mary and Joseph surrounded by chain-link fencing topped with razor wire. “I feel it doesn't make the story more political, it makes it more biblical. It invites us back into the raw and difficult nature of the true setting of the story,” said senior pastor Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison.    

Dallas Morning News story by Marcheta Fornoff 

 

Oak Lawn United Methodist Church’s Nativity scene depicts silhouettes of Mary and Joseph surrounded by chain-link fencing topped with razor wire. “I feel it doesn't make the story more political, it makes it more biblical. It invites us back into the raw and difficult nature of the true setting of the story,” said senior pastor Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison.... READ MORE  https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/2025/12/17/dallas-churchs-nativity-evokes-immigration-detention-centers-homelessness/

 &

Oak Lawn UMC Reveals Nativity Display Lifting Up the Journey of Migrant Families

Social Media Statement:

This installation on our front steps reimagines the Nativity in the reality faced by thousands of families fleeing violence, poverty, and political instability. The Holy Family were migrants seeking safety. In Dallas, many families face the same uncertainty.  At Christmas, we remember that God chooses to be with those the world pushes to the margins. May this scene call us to make room — in our hearts, in our city, in our policies — for the Christ who comes as an unhoused immigrant child.

Full Press Release:

Dallas, TX — Oak Lawn United Methodist Church has unveiled a powerful new public installation on its front steps this Advent season—an artistic reimagining of the traditional Nativity that places the Holy Family in the lived reality of thousands of migrants and asylum-seeking families today.

The installation invites the Dallas community to see the Christmas story through the eyes of those fleeing violence, poverty, and political instability. Reflecting on the piece, Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison, Senior Pastor of Oak Lawn UMC, said, “The Holy Family were migrants seeking safety. In Dallas, many families face the same uncertainty.”

By grounding the Nativity in a contemporary humanitarian crisis, the church hopes to spark deeper compassion and honest reflection during the holidays.

“At Christmas, we remember that God chooses to be with those the world pushes to the margins,” said Rev. Griffin-Allison. “May this scene call us to make room—in our hearts, in our city, in our policies—for the Christ who comes as an unhoused immigrant child.”

Oak Lawn UMC serves as a key community hub for hospitality ministries, including outreach to unsheltered neighbors and support for recently arrived migrant families through Dallas Responds. This installation reflects the congregation’s ongoing commitment to embodying solidarity, justice, and radical welcome.

The Nativity will be on display throughout the Advent and Christmas season. Community members are encouraged to visit, take photos, and reflect on how the story of Christ’s birth speaks into the urgent realities facing Dallas today.

Press Contact:
Rev. Ryan Wager
Associate Pastor & Operations Leader
Email ryan@olumc.org
Wireless 405-213-8944

 https://olumc.org/nativity-2025/

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]