Where do the most vulnerable, oppressed, suppressed, and violated fit in to Congress’ picture of this nation and her people?
In worship we have our neighbors to right and left, before and behind, yet the Eternal Presence is over all and beneath all. Worship does not consist in achieving a mental state of concentrated isolation from one’s fellow. But in the depth of common worship it is as if we found our separate lives were all one life, within whom we live and move and have our being.
—Thomas Raymond Kelly
I feel the uncertainty of these troubling times creeping in to other everyday moments. I notice my first impulse is to squash the uncertainty, banish the doubts, and discredit my fears as hyperbole. I want to retreat to the line in the sand, the definitive, the judgmental, and the easy way out.
How do I find calm for a Congress whose promised proposals will almost certainly include vast tax cuts for the wealthiest in our nation that lead to cuts to anti-poverty programs like Medicare and Medicaid? How do I find reason in a Congress who rationalizes the chopping block for vital tax credits that exist for low-income and moderate-income individuals and families, like the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit? How do I find compassion for a Congress who proposes completely arbitrary health care changes that would lead to 13 million people losing their insurance and millions more paying higher premiums?
Where do the most vulnerable, oppressed, suppressed, violated fit in to Congress’ picture of this nation & her people?
The situation could not be clearer: Congress is prepared to vote on vast giveaways for large corporations and American’s wealthiest individuals. What seems immoral and impossible looks probable.
Our fight is for this present moment as well as for generations to come. The cost of inaction is too high. We must lean into this call to action.
In answering that call I pray we remember the fight is bigger than you or me or this Congress.
I pray that we shoulder the concerns we agree to carry with love and for one another.
I pray we find room in our hearts to be compassionate with ourselves when we fail and when we are less than what we envision.
