As a child I used to wonder how heartless megalomaniacs amassed hoards of followers and were able to commit crimes against humanity without accountability. (I obsessed over this question from my tweens until adulthood) Sadly, I no longer wonder, for I have witnessed it occur many times in my lifetime, including in the nation where I was born, the United States of America.
The USA was built on a foundation of genocide, enslavement, oppression, and winner-take-all individualism. Instead of facing this truth, our nation covered it with a transparent cloak of "white respectability" and "Christian" nationalism. And, despite generations of resistance movements calling for repentance and restorative justice, the foundation remains unchanged. I have known this to be true for as far back as I can remember, and thus I have never felt safe in my own country, especially not where I grew up in Indiana. That said, attempts to move to the mythical nation that has taken accountability for its sins has proven to be a fool's mission.
To those waking up to these truths today, I am so sorry. To those especially vulnerable and are being told you are over-reacting or being paranoid, know that you are NOT delusional; the danger is real, and things will get worse before they get better (if we live to see that day).
So now what?
Step 1: Figure out a way to stabilize your nervous system. Otherwise, the stress alone could kill you. Slow breathing, nature walks, exercise, music, and prescription anti-anxiety meds can help (please don't turn to dangerous substances to go numb). If you need to weep and tear your clothes to release your laments, do it. Remember, the danger is not something you can fight or flight your way out of (although, if you do have the financial means, I won’t judge if you relocate to a relatively safer locale). Survival and self-care—including rest and laughter—is itself an important part of resistance.
Step 2: Use your stabilized nervous system to be a co-regulating force for those struggling to stabilize theirs. To be clear: I’m talking about addressing the physiological reaction bodies are having due to the knowledge that they and people they love are in danger. Do NOT make promises you cannot keep or declarations that are merely wishful thinking. Do NOT say things like “It is going to be ok.” We both know that, for the most vulnerable among us, it is going to be hell.
Step 3: Gather your people. Remember that wherever two or three (or more) are gathered to commune with Divine Love, Divine Love will be there among them. Build the bubbles—the Kin-doms of Love on Earth—that the scared and hurting need to survive.
Step 4: Remember that you are not the first, nor will you be the last to face the ravenous spirits of bigotry and cruelty. Resist the toxic superhero narratives. Your job is not to save the world; it is to model a Love and Peace-filled way to live in it. If this means you need to retreat from society for some time to regroup and recenter, do that. There is intrinsic value in monastic living and being in harmony with nature. If this means spending more time with your favorite people and/or building more social groups where vulnerable people are safe to unmask, do that. If this means using your talents to add more love and beauty and pathways to healing to the world, do that.
Step 5: When you have (re)found your inner strength, (re)engage with established organizations working to change cruel laws and unjust practices.
Finally, for the United Methodists reading this, remember your baptismal vows to "resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves."
With Love from afar,
Taylor
