Dear ,
As I compose this note to you it is February 2, Candlemas, Groundhog Day, and the start of Black History Month. We are also just two weeks into a shocking landscape in the U.S. of "flood-the-zone." If you missed my note last week about how this impacts the conditions of ministry, you can read it here. I'm not leaving this theme behind just yet.
I took a walk late this afternoon at twilight. And I'm reminded of the stark beauty of the earth this time of year. It helps me to ground myself and my well-being in the midst of chaotic times.
What helps you, ?
Recently I took a workshop with
Darien Gee in Micro Prose. The idea is to limit one's writing to just 300 words. No more. Here's my latest. Another attempt to capture the times we are living in, and its significance for our work in ministry, our vocations of
spiritual leadership, and pastoral imagination. How do we resist the dehumanization and destruction of democracy?
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Resist by
Returning 2/2/2025
“Flood the
zone.”
Keep everyone off balance.
Overwhelm the news.
Upset every apple cart.
Destroy all gains for human equality and inclusion.
Throw out
everyone you don’t like.
Exact revenge.
Organize chaos.
Behind the scenes take control of every lever of power.
Dismiss. Antagonize. Disrupt. Insult. Attack.
Imagine nurturing a family under these circumstances?
Maybe you’ve been there. But there was no nurture. Only vengeance and control.
Imagine running a classroom with these conditions?
Some of you have been students in such classrooms.
You only learned hate or to protect yourself
from it.
Imagine leading a church where these are the values?
Turns out that it’s not really church.
Just religious shame and spiritual abuse.
In America when we don’t like a family or
classroom or church, and if we are lucky to survive, we vote with our feet. We leave situations and values that break people. Sometimes the recovery is very, very long.
However, when the entire democratic
culture and social fabric is torn asunder, there is nowhere to hide. We can and must resist, but there’s no simple escape.
And the families, schools, and churches we have been forming into communities of support,
education, and belovedness, are now suddenly in a flooded zone, a new and dangerous world.
The old world was never perfect. Or even close. But be assured this new one aims to be much worse.
How do we survive? How do we resist? How do we hope for anything different?
Return to focus and attention and pray for clarity. Return to purpose and see how it is evolving. Return to love and see where it can be multiplied. Return to community and collectively keep making the world you want to live in. Return to rest and restore your power to resist.
