You must be reading what I’m reading, more or less. Seeing what I’m seeing in various media from international newspapers, platforms like Substack and BlueSky, TV news if you can bear to see it. Years ago, there was a QAnon hoax that the Democrats were running an international paedophile cabal led by wealthy elites. Now, almost ten years later than the start of that hoax, we know that whatever the right wing accuses Democrats of doing is a confession for the elite right wing leaders including many (and not all!) Republicans. It seems too impossible to be true. But the truth is oozing out. The damage to so many women has been a lifetime of trauma. The damage to so many men who disabled their morality is a life sentence. The damage to governance in country after country is incalculable. Add to that the trauma for military and neighbours in torn country after torn country and we have to stop, breathe, and focus.
What can we do? Love. That’s all and that’s a lot. We can see it being acted out in march after protest after blogpost after podcast after Newspaper Opinion Editorials after late night talk show hosts after Grammy award winners. As we watch love in action, it turns out to be far more radical than any sermon or poem could have said. Love in action has been what selfish leaders could never have guessed, assuming that if we were all frightened enough, we’d submit to terror. Oh, Love can face anything. We have to love harder now that at anytime ever. It may be only to our near ones and dear ones and stops there. But they’re seeing what we’re seeing; we all can fly off the handle because of the stress. We have to Love near and far.
I did this image almost ten years ago now, around the time the QAnon-ers were confessing for the right wing. I was artist in residence for a rural Christianity conference. This section of a much larger piece shows a rising Jesus Love being the largest agent amidst community groups working for good and ill alike. Please take energy from this to revive your Love as much as your own body and soul can accept.