Structural patterns in nature are never relegated to only one part of the life. They repeat themselves - such as with spirals in plants, weather systems, and galaxies in outer space. Understanding patterns anywhere can help us better understand them everywhere.
So it is that an army of love has a similar structural pattern to that of the military. There’s an Air Force, Army and Navy. Understanding the function of each can help us discern how best our own talents and abilities contribute to the larger effort.
In the Army of Love, the Air Force is the power of the spirit. It gives air cover. It’s prayer, meditation, and other spiritual practices used in an effort, for instance, to bless and protect protestors in Minnesota, Iran, or elsewhere. A Silent Minute is an an example, as people stop for one minute of prayerful or meditative silence at 6pmPT-9pmET every day.
Prayer and meditation are not mere symbols. They generate power and repair on invisible planes. Whether we’re gathered for prayer circles, religious rituals, meditation groups or doing individual practice, we should take our spiritual work as seriously as we take traditional activism. Disciplined, consistent, sincere spiritual devotion are an important factor in meeting the challenges at hand. Many are aware that what’s occurring today is not just a political but also a spiritual struggle, and nothing dissolves chaos like the presence of deep peace. Conviction is a force multiplier. We must be committed to the power of love with as much conviction as that displayed by those committed to the power of fear.
In the Army of Love, the Army is the power of traditional activism. The ranks of the army are getting bigger every day, as people are showing up to protest; protect immigrants; begin and support 2026 local, state and federal campaigns; volunteer for election protection efforts; take part in legal actions; and use whatever power we have to nonviolently resist the totalitarian onslaught that confronts us.
The administration is lawless and contemptuous of the U.S Constitution. While they are working to destroy our system, we are here to serve and protect it. While freedom and democracy mean little to them, they mean everything to us. We’re aware they have more material force at their command, but we have what Gandhi called soul force. And we have each other.
In the Army of Love, the Navy is the power of the mind. It’s represented by the work of journalists, educators, historians, therapists, writers, and other influencers helping us understand what’s happening, endure what’s happening, and plan ahead to the America we’ll create on the other side of this madness. It’s a call to break through our own barriers to love, that we’ll be more courageous and effective conduits for the emergence of a better world.
Americans were way too vulnerable to what’s happening now. As with the fall of Rome, the barbarians made it to the gate; they made their way in, and even now they’re raping and pillaging. But we shouldn’t forget: Rome was already in a weakened state or it couldn’t have happened, and by strengthening ourselves now we can still push them back. We will push them back. They do not have control of the city.
In large part our weakened state was because we’d lost our emotional and intellectual connection to the importance of the American experiment, and our responsibility as citizens to protect and further it in every generation. In way to many cases - from schools to families - we didn’t even bother to teach it to our children. If no one teaches you about the Bill of Rights when you’re a child, how will you know to be appalled if it’s under assault when you’re an adult? That must be one of the lessons we learn from this, and commit to making sure will never happen again. Every generation is a link in a chain, and one link dropping off can have disastrous consequences.
In the Army of Love, all its functions matter- Air Force, Army, and Navy - yet this is also where the analogy to military activity ends. For in the Army of Love, all of us can be - and usually should be, on some level - members of all branches of the service. Pray with your heart and pray with your feet, as well. The strength of our hearts, our feet, and our minds are all needed now. Take care of your nervous system, and at the same time don’t let yourself sit this out.
These are the times we’re living in, whether we like it or not, yet these are the times for which we were born. We have only just begun to love! Hope is born of participation in hopeful solutions, and we ourselves are the instruments of hope. We’re not just ragamuffins. We are here to work a miracle, supported in the words of Martin Luther King Jr. by “cosmic companionship.” We are the People, and our army of love is more real, much bigger, and even stronger than we know.
Marianne, thank you for taking the time to write this insightful and inspirational message. Dr. King referred to us all as part of a larger family. We are woven together, each with our individual purpose. These are rough times. President Trump and his administration are eroding democracy. We are drifting further into dictatorship. The president leads the united States; he and those who do his bidding are trying to divide them. Yet, there is an army here and in villages, towns, and cities in the United States and around the world, who are shining lights in the darkness. They spread love. They seek to educate others about the damage hate can do. Love builds people up; hate breaks people down. We will defeat tyranny only as we stand together, listen to, and support one another.
Thank you for reminding us that we can be an army of change. We do need to see ourselves as a unified group, not as scattered individuals or small groups. We are the heart and soul of America, the people who built this nation, who fight for it, pray for it, care for and teach it's children, care for the sick and aged. WE are America, Not the bullies, the greedy, the abusers and predators, not those who want to manipulate and control. We are an army of love, compassion, fairness, ingenuity, and resourcefulness.