“Pharaoh, the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, ‘When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.’ But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live.” Exodus 1:15-17

Shiphrah and Puah faced a terrible choice, either ignore Pharaoh, at great risk to themselves or kill every newborn baby boy.

Shiphrah and Puah refuse to violate the trust birthing mothers placed in them. They chose a path of quiet resistance, defying  Pharaoh’s command,  as they  cared for women giving birth. Rather than obeying Pharaoh, they quietly continued delivering babies as they always had. Shiphrah and Puah would not allow themselves to be used for evil by Pharaoh.

When last winter’s Metro Surge upended life in Minnesota, thousands of people responded to what they saw as unjust immigration enforcement, targeting our neighbors. Throughout the country, people rose up in protest, against an agency out of control, acting as thugs instead of federal agents.   Others took on financial burdens, of caregiving, grocery shopping, giving  immigrant children rides to school, and doing for immigrant neighbors, what they could not do for themselves, by protecting the most vulnerable among us.

Neighbors chose not to cooperate with ICE’s corrupt and biased immigration enforcement. A system which broke multiple layers of precedent, created questionable  interpretation of immigration law and  spirited immigrants away from lawyers.  Some lost their lives, defending the powerless.

Shiphrah and Puah are models of quiet resistance, showing the way for people far from the center of power to make a stand for justice, living out their faith with compassion, and integrity.

The Apostle Paul put it this way: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2