A desperate mother......

She has assumed the position against the side of an SUV; you cannot see her face but she is young in body.  Next to her is another anonymous person whose hands are frisking her body.  At her feet stands her two year old daughter as bereft as any two year old can be, crying with her whole body.

This may be the last time that mother sees her daughter for months; neither will know where the other is.  Some stranger will now bring the toddler meals and change diapers.  Some stranger will turn out the lights.   Someone who is not her mother. John Getty image: Woman with Child

There is no resistance.  Neither is there compassion.

She is seeking asylum in the United States.  She came to our southern border and requested asylum.  They frisked her, detained her, and took her child.

The gospel story about a Syro-Phoenician woman could well be a 1st century parallel to this.  The Syro-Phoenicians were enemies of Israel - and the Israelites would tell you that there was good reason behind the enmity, although one wonders how long a people can carry a grudge.  Regardless, the rift went way back and was a well recognized rule of social interaction:  have nothing to do with those people.  We owe them nothing but our contempt.

So when Jesus refuses the woman's request for healing for her daughter, no Israelite hearing this story would be surprised.  Modern readers are a bit put off by the fact that Jesus manages to call the woman a dog in the process.  "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."  A little harsh.

Yet she does not resist; she allows the comment to pass.  She accepts the role given to her, and yet asks, "Even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs" ...and 'for saying that' a healing occurs. Mark 7.24-30

A desperate mother willing to accept the crumbs.

I wonder why we Americans have no crumbs to give the mother who comes to us?  Do we really need to hold two year olds hostage?  Are we that kind of master?