It is always a comfort to read and hear your words of truth and reason. Thank you for leading the resistance especially during this election season. Please rest and take care of yourself because we need you and your voice!
I just subscribed. I have followed you for some time, but now I want to stand proudly with you and the other members of the convocation as we gather strength for the years ahead.
This is also a time for us to learn from others about how to resist and overturn tyranny… people in Europe (Ukraine, Poland) as well as South America (Brasil, Venezuela) may help give us inspiration and strategies. Just like Spirit of Justice, there are examples from other countries that can illuminate the way for us. This will not be a sprint, so we need to rest and get ready for the long haul. But we won’t be doing this as individuals by ourselves… this will take community and solidarity. We can rest and learn and be better prepared!
I just pulled out a book I bought after the 2016 election with Scripture and reflections for each of the day of the 4 years of the Trump administration. It's entitled Praying for Justice, by R. Anderson Campbell and Steve Sherwood from George Fox University. A quote from Oscar A. Romero from The Violence of Love resonates with me today: "People are free to choose the political system they want, but not free to do whatever they feel like. They will have to be judged by God's justice in the political or social system they choose. God is the judge of all social systems. Neither the gospel nor the church can be monopolized by any political or social movement." Christians will be judged by those they uplift and those they marginalize, and God help us if once the Church chooses power over justice.
I worked at the polls on election day in the deep red county where I live in NW NC. After polls closed I went home, ate a beautiful late dinner prepared by my partner, and went straight to bed. I couldn't bear to listen to the results come in, because in my gut, I knew he was going to win. Three of his supporters came into the polls wearing black trash bags with signs stating "Garbage for Trump", Maga hats and red war paint on their faces. At that sight, I knew what was coming, and when I heard it on the radio at 6:00 Wednesday morning, I was just totally numb. I still feel numb. I don't have the emotional energy to try and make sense of it, because we can't.
I share all your sense of dread at how bad it's going to get. And when his policies hurt the very people who voted for him, he will be blaming the rest of us for it.
I am taking a 3 month sabbatical to get my body, mind, and spirit realigned. I bought beautiful fabrics to make a quilt and bought a yoga class card. I'm praying and resetting for what's to come, but I don't have the bandwidth to worry about it today.
On the bright side, NC elected all democrats for governor, Lt. Governor (a woman!), attorney General and secretary of state. And it looks like Dems managed to claw back one seat in the legislature to break the republican super majority. This gives me hope. God bless us and strengthen us, every one!
You continue to be the first voice that I am turning to each day. I am sharing your wisdom with my family and ministry circle. We are all trying to find our way in this new territory and you are posting astute and loving signposts.
I pray today in the words of Howard Thurman- “Our little lives, our big problems- these we lay upon thy altar.”
May the Spirit of Justice continue to inform and support you - and all of us.
This is like Esau trading his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup, and like the people of Israel begging the prophet Samuel for a king, even though he warned them of the consequences. Beyond that, it shows how human nature is to gravitate toward antiheroes who tap into their dark vein of resentment and grievance. Sadly, this nation, and even Christians, don’t have the moral foundation to see clearly through this. I wrote about the embrace of the antihero here: https://allkingdavidsmen.substack.com/p/the-embrace-of-antiheroes
Wise words. Thank you. Gathering in community to share long hugs, autumnal soup, and wine really helped last evening to break up so many of my dark thoughts from the election results. Living in a state controlled by Trump Republicans has taken its toll on the young professionals and their families who are a part of our weekly Wednesday night community dinners. Idaho has been the testing ground for some of the Project 2025 proposals. One example of many already enacted here is that women are dying from draconian anti-abortion laws. We are rapidly becoming a healthcare desert as doctors leave, refuse to relocate here, and/or lack training to deal with reproductive issues because that training is no longer a part of their medical education. I very much appreciate your wisdom and spiritual directives to hold this time and space for grieving, lamenting, and self-care.
Your words are a gift and so full of wisdom. Thank you for continuing the fight and your leadership. May you also rest in these days to prepare for those ahead. As someone else said, we do indeed need you and your voice!
Thank you for taking care of yourself and taking a little time to share these insights. I have ventured back into two of my social media feeds to share some of my essential points of view, but continue to tune out news sources for now. Not even reading NYTimes and The Atlantic for now. Will ease back into that over time. I want to focus on trusted voices, support my friends, and faithfully serve my congregation.
Thank you again for wise words of resting and restoration. It's not easy to stop and rest, but Sabbath is def Biblical!
A few questions & thoughts on your thoughts:
* On our worries - what are some of the things you recommend praying for?
* About Russia: I was in Moscow in 1990 just before the Berlin Wall fell. What I observed back then was that prices were indeed good, but availability was another thing. I can remember looking in the windows of supermarkets and seeing maybe two bricks of butter and a dozen eggs. The black market (which was thriving) was the source of most necessities for most people, and it ran on US Dollars, cash only. Side note: in Russia, savings accounts don't pay interest, so most people don't have them.
* Loved your comment on "four years" "bless your heart" LOL yup! One thought: protect assets, and as much as possible make them untrace-able before the turn of the year.
THANK YOU for publicly expressing the need to rest, grieve, and strengthen ourselves, body and soul. I appreciate your work and your leadership as we head into the darkness.
I couldn't believe it (I could). I only wanted to talk to people I knew had voted for Harris. The thought of connecting with my friends and family who I knew voted for Trump made me electric with anger. I didn't really talk to anyone for the first few days. I lifted weights and PRed in all of them. The buzzing barely left even after that and an hour walk the morning after. My mind was just cycling "how? HOW?"
After a couple days, I listened to some podcasts to see what they thought happened. Some of it made sense, some of it made me angry; mostly we were all just as stunned.
It took me this long even to read some of my favorite substack (!) authors. I'm resigned to comprehending that it's real. I feel guilty about this, but it makes me feel better to read just how very angry some people are like Gabrielle Blair, because I feel that same way, but I can't *feel* it without wanting to pull my hair out.
I'm stuck on the question: Who is my neighbor? As a white Christian, I am once again shocked at the election results. I loved the campaign and the inclusive language. I was appalled that Christians could vote for a candidate so opposite, crude, disrespectful. I think there are some ignorant uninformed people, but the scary part is the masterminds behind this movement that aligned it to Christianity.
Three issues come to mind: 1) How to keep the movement going to push back against this group, 2) how to connect with the uniformed, 3) How to keep people safe from the policies and people behind Project 2025?
Thanks for the list of what to do. I posted it to FB and plan to invite friends to follow. I also have read Amanda Tyler's book "How to End Christian Nationalism" and will invite friends to form a study group. Your book is next, The Spirit of Justice is next on my reading list, after I finish Baptising America.
Jemar,
It is always a comfort to read and hear your words of truth and reason. Thank you for leading the resistance especially during this election season. Please rest and take care of yourself because we need you and your voice!
I just subscribed. I have followed you for some time, but now I want to stand proudly with you and the other members of the convocation as we gather strength for the years ahead.
This is also a time for us to learn from others about how to resist and overturn tyranny… people in Europe (Ukraine, Poland) as well as South America (Brasil, Venezuela) may help give us inspiration and strategies. Just like Spirit of Justice, there are examples from other countries that can illuminate the way for us. This will not be a sprint, so we need to rest and get ready for the long haul. But we won’t be doing this as individuals by ourselves… this will take community and solidarity. We can rest and learn and be better prepared!
I just pulled out a book I bought after the 2016 election with Scripture and reflections for each of the day of the 4 years of the Trump administration. It's entitled Praying for Justice, by R. Anderson Campbell and Steve Sherwood from George Fox University. A quote from Oscar A. Romero from The Violence of Love resonates with me today: "People are free to choose the political system they want, but not free to do whatever they feel like. They will have to be judged by God's justice in the political or social system they choose. God is the judge of all social systems. Neither the gospel nor the church can be monopolized by any political or social movement." Christians will be judged by those they uplift and those they marginalize, and God help us if once the Church chooses power over justice.
I worked at the polls on election day in the deep red county where I live in NW NC. After polls closed I went home, ate a beautiful late dinner prepared by my partner, and went straight to bed. I couldn't bear to listen to the results come in, because in my gut, I knew he was going to win. Three of his supporters came into the polls wearing black trash bags with signs stating "Garbage for Trump", Maga hats and red war paint on their faces. At that sight, I knew what was coming, and when I heard it on the radio at 6:00 Wednesday morning, I was just totally numb. I still feel numb. I don't have the emotional energy to try and make sense of it, because we can't.
I share all your sense of dread at how bad it's going to get. And when his policies hurt the very people who voted for him, he will be blaming the rest of us for it.
I am taking a 3 month sabbatical to get my body, mind, and spirit realigned. I bought beautiful fabrics to make a quilt and bought a yoga class card. I'm praying and resetting for what's to come, but I don't have the bandwidth to worry about it today.
On the bright side, NC elected all democrats for governor, Lt. Governor (a woman!), attorney General and secretary of state. And it looks like Dems managed to claw back one seat in the legislature to break the republican super majority. This gives me hope. God bless us and strengthen us, every one!
Jemar
You continue to be the first voice that I am turning to each day. I am sharing your wisdom with my family and ministry circle. We are all trying to find our way in this new territory and you are posting astute and loving signposts.
I pray today in the words of Howard Thurman- “Our little lives, our big problems- these we lay upon thy altar.”
May the Spirit of Justice continue to inform and support you - and all of us.
This is like Esau trading his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup, and like the people of Israel begging the prophet Samuel for a king, even though he warned them of the consequences. Beyond that, it shows how human nature is to gravitate toward antiheroes who tap into their dark vein of resentment and grievance. Sadly, this nation, and even Christians, don’t have the moral foundation to see clearly through this. I wrote about the embrace of the antihero here: https://allkingdavidsmen.substack.com/p/the-embrace-of-antiheroes
Wise words. Thank you. Gathering in community to share long hugs, autumnal soup, and wine really helped last evening to break up so many of my dark thoughts from the election results. Living in a state controlled by Trump Republicans has taken its toll on the young professionals and their families who are a part of our weekly Wednesday night community dinners. Idaho has been the testing ground for some of the Project 2025 proposals. One example of many already enacted here is that women are dying from draconian anti-abortion laws. We are rapidly becoming a healthcare desert as doctors leave, refuse to relocate here, and/or lack training to deal with reproductive issues because that training is no longer a part of their medical education. I very much appreciate your wisdom and spiritual directives to hold this time and space for grieving, lamenting, and self-care.
Your words are a gift and so full of wisdom. Thank you for continuing the fight and your leadership. May you also rest in these days to prepare for those ahead. As someone else said, we do indeed need you and your voice!
Thank you for taking care of yourself and taking a little time to share these insights. I have ventured back into two of my social media feeds to share some of my essential points of view, but continue to tune out news sources for now. Not even reading NYTimes and The Atlantic for now. Will ease back into that over time. I want to focus on trusted voices, support my friends, and faithfully serve my congregation.
Thank you again for wise words of resting and restoration. It's not easy to stop and rest, but Sabbath is def Biblical!
A few questions & thoughts on your thoughts:
* On our worries - what are some of the things you recommend praying for?
* About Russia: I was in Moscow in 1990 just before the Berlin Wall fell. What I observed back then was that prices were indeed good, but availability was another thing. I can remember looking in the windows of supermarkets and seeing maybe two bricks of butter and a dozen eggs. The black market (which was thriving) was the source of most necessities for most people, and it ran on US Dollars, cash only. Side note: in Russia, savings accounts don't pay interest, so most people don't have them.
* Loved your comment on "four years" "bless your heart" LOL yup! One thought: protect assets, and as much as possible make them untrace-able before the turn of the year.
Thanks for all your good work Jemar. May we all find peace in our hearts today so we can fight for what’s right in the near future. Peace 🙏🏻
THANK YOU for publicly expressing the need to rest, grieve, and strengthen ourselves, body and soul. I appreciate your work and your leadership as we head into the darkness.
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
I couldn't believe it (I could). I only wanted to talk to people I knew had voted for Harris. The thought of connecting with my friends and family who I knew voted for Trump made me electric with anger. I didn't really talk to anyone for the first few days. I lifted weights and PRed in all of them. The buzzing barely left even after that and an hour walk the morning after. My mind was just cycling "how? HOW?"
After a couple days, I listened to some podcasts to see what they thought happened. Some of it made sense, some of it made me angry; mostly we were all just as stunned.
It took me this long even to read some of my favorite substack (!) authors. I'm resigned to comprehending that it's real. I feel guilty about this, but it makes me feel better to read just how very angry some people are like Gabrielle Blair, because I feel that same way, but I can't *feel* it without wanting to pull my hair out.
I'm stuck on the question: Who is my neighbor? As a white Christian, I am once again shocked at the election results. I loved the campaign and the inclusive language. I was appalled that Christians could vote for a candidate so opposite, crude, disrespectful. I think there are some ignorant uninformed people, but the scary part is the masterminds behind this movement that aligned it to Christianity.
Three issues come to mind: 1) How to keep the movement going to push back against this group, 2) how to connect with the uniformed, 3) How to keep people safe from the policies and people behind Project 2025?
Thanks for the list of what to do. I posted it to FB and plan to invite friends to follow. I also have read Amanda Tyler's book "How to End Christian Nationalism" and will invite friends to form a study group. Your book is next, The Spirit of Justice is next on my reading list, after I finish Baptising America.