c. 2007 Religion News Service

DURHAM, N.C. _ On our drive from suburb to city, from Anglo culture to Hispanic, my wife and I mused about our next automobile purchase.

Is it time to let our well-used vehicles go and venture into something newer that requires less maintenance? Time for me to go from fun-to-drive sports car to road-worthy sedan?

At La Super, a Mexican restaurant owned by two immigrants to whom my wife is teaching English, we stood in line behind five Hispanic workmen. Nearby sat three Hispanic families. A toddler happily ate frijoles (beans), without any complaining about “yucky vegetables.”

Tables and chairs were plain, decor minimal, menu written on a board, and the food excellent.

On the drive home, our car-buying discussion seemed less important. So did living in suburban isolation. It felt right to be anticipating a family evening of plain food and a movie in our plain downtown.

North Carolina is a prime destination for immigrants: many Hispanics, both documented and undocumented, as well as many Asians. Our area abounds in restaurants and markets featuring food from afar, classes teaching English as a second language, and venues from house-building crews to graduate school programs where English is only one of many languages spoken.

Schools routinely bring in translators for announcements and parent-teacher conferences. Churches offer worship in multiple languages. Agencies, employers and landlords assume a need for Spanish-language capability.

Some immigrants are here temporarily, to receive education or to save enough for a house purchase back home. Most, as far as I can tell, are here to stay. They seek permanent jobs, to establish businesses, buy houses, support their kids in schools and prepare for citizenship.

This is an old story in America, of course, for we are a nation of immigrants, a fact that many try to forget. It’s the first time, however, that I have lived in the middle of an influx.

I find it inspiring _ a reminder of the best that our nation is about, namely freedom and opportunity. Many have sacrificed everything to come here. I suspect that even those who bring sectarian hatreds with them will yield to these higher ideals.

I find it chastening _ a glimpse of a family-first orientation and simple pleasures that our noisy commercial culture tries to vanquish, as well as a glimpse of a future gained through hard work, not entitlement, and a citizenship that is valued, not taken for granted.

I find it interesting _ not just the savory foods, but the varieties of languages, skin colors, customs, dreams, even ways of smiling and conversing. From worship to shopping, everything feels different when its language is foreign to my ears.

And I find it hopeful. This is a strange time for America in the world. Much of what the world sees in us is violence, greed, arrogant politicians, shabby values, an obsession with passive pursuits like entertainment and celebrity-watching, and a bizarre Third World-like economy in which a few earn millions by managing other people’s money, while the many struggle in a system rigged against them.

Immigrants remind me that there is more happening in America than 27-year-old stock traders buying $875,000 co-ops in Manhattan and feeling smug about it, or jingoistic politicians turning fear into votes.

As the privileged become soft and petulant, immigrants and those still close to their immigrant roots work hard, take risks, run toward danger in emergencies, help each other assimilate, send money back home, attend school events, and consider it fulfilling to take walks with their families.

Immigrants keep us honest.

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant and leader of workshops. His book, “Just Wondering, Jesus: 100 Questions People Want to Ask,” was published by Morehouse Publishing. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C. His Web site is http://www.onajourney.org.)

KRE/PH END EHRICH