News that America had decided to re-elect a President who ended his previous term by leading an Insurrection against our democracy.
News that more than half of Americans were willing to ignore the sexual assault conviction, the 34 felonies, the stealing of top secret documents, the gifting of life-saving medical supplies to Russia while thousands of American citizens buried their loved ones who perished for lack of said supplies, and all the rest.
I’m numb. Grieving and in disbelief.
So, what can we learn from all of this? What, if anything, can we take from this heartbreak to comfort us in the years ahead?
For me, I think it’s this: That Presidents are not responsible for our liberation, we are.
We were foolish to hope that a mere election could erase the hate, xenophobia, misogyny, and fascism from our midst.
We were enchanted by the notion that one vote, one election, one presidential candidate, could change everything.
But now we know the truth.
No one can change the world but you.
Your love. Your hope. Your faith.
Your love for your neighbor, even your neighbor with the Trump flag in his front yard.
Your hope, even the hope that this is not the end and that America can one day live up to that unresolved promise of freedom and justice for all.
You faith in democracy, in humanity, in tomorrow’s children.
Because the world will not change until we change.
We are America and America is us. All of us.
We are one people, like it or not.
We are one nation under God.
We are the only hope for truth and justice to prevail.
We are the resistance.
We are the resistance to violence.
The resistance to despair, to fear, and to surrender.
We are the resistance to hate, to dehumanization and to ignorance.
So, today we may grieve our disillusionment. Maybe tomorrow as well.
But, as soon as possible, we need to pick ourselves up from the floor and stand up for freedom.
We need to stand for the immigrant and the refugee.
We need to stand for women.
We need to stand for people of color.
We need to stand for our gay, trans and queer friends.
We need to stand for the love of humanity.
Because if we don’t stand, no one else will.
The resistance begins now.
We fight with our love, our hope and our faith in a better America…and a better humanity.
We fight because it’s up to us now.
It’s up to all of us.
**
The newest book from Keith Giles, “The Quantum Sayings of Jesus: Decoding the Lost Gospel of Thomas” is available now on Amazon. Order HERE>
Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.”
He co-hosts The Heretic Happy Hour Podcast and his solo podcast, Second Cup With Keith which are both available on Spotify, Amazon, Apple, Podbean or wherever you find your podcast fix.
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