THE HEART'S REPONSE TO THIS WORRISOME HOUR

Sometimes Love says No

On social media, some have suggested I should be more loving towards Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Like, “What happened to the lady who wrote A Return to Love?” I tilt my head, pretty sure we’re supposed to show at least as much compassion toward those whose lives are being traumatized by those gentlemen’s actions these days. I admit I feel less urgency to love the perpetrator than I do their victims - particularly federal workers who have served their country well and at the very least do not deserve the insults thrown at them as they’re told to leave, or former recipients of lifesaving food or medicine who now have nowhere else to turn.

But I do get the point that we’re called by God to love everyone, and I don’t take that lightly. I’ve been praying for Donald Trump for years, and I’ve gotten to the point where I get it, he’s an innocent child of God and so forth. Several friends have told me “He’s not like that in private, Marianne. He’s lovely at dinner,” which weirdly is supposed to make me feel better. I admit Elon Musk presents more of a challenge for me now, but I’m working on it. I’m reminded of this quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: “God said we have to love our enemies, but He didn’t say we have to like them.”

King also said, “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic.” I see what Trump and Musk are doing as reckless and abusive; and sentimental and anemic love an inadequate response to the challenges of this moment. People frequently question how Jesus could have kicked over the tables of the money-changers, but no Jew or Italian would have a problem with that scene. To some of us, that kind of thing isn’t anger…it’s personality! I’ve noticed that people who speak in sticky sweet syrupy vocal tones are often those who carry the sharpest emotional knives in their pockets, just waiting for you to turn around.

Love is emotionally tender, but also fiercely intelligent. And it’s more than capable of saying no. Any parent knows that if a toddler walks into the kitchen carrying a sharp scissors, it’s time to say “NO.” You say no not because you don’t love your child, but because you do. Or “No, you can’t sleep over at your friend Janie’s house” when people in the neighborhood say her Daddy’s a meth addict. To me it’s no less loving to say, “No, you cannot gut our government, trash our Constitution, or stage a techno authoritarian coup.”

No. Nyet. Nada. Not gonna happen. Definitely not on my watch.

For those of you who share my perspective, below are some guiding principles to help you get through this disturbing hour. The chaos our President and his First Pal are so intent on creating is an assault on our nervous system as much as on our democracy. We need to protect both.

1) Do not fall asleep. Don’t minimize the severity of the problem or dull your intention to resolve it. Just make sure your intensity is quiet, centered, and loving. Think Mother Nature when she’s simply had it. She’s not mad. She just won’t take it anymore. This isn’t about hating anyone. It’s about loving our freedom, so much that you’re absolutely adamant we must pass it on to future generations.

2) Do not cave. Don’t allow yourself to do one single thing out of fear of unpopularity or retribution, or out of obedience in advance. You probably will be unpopular with some, and retribution of some kind is absolutely possible. It’s nothing however, compared to the retribution you’ll experience later just trying to be yourself, if the authoritarian project now menacing us becomes permanently entrenched. Only you can answer the question, “Am I ready for this?” If enough of us are, we will ultimately be fine. If enough of us aren’t, then in the words of Jefferson “Indeed I tremble for my country...”

3) Remember: Nature is organizing the resistance. The most important thing is to make yourself receptive and available. Strengthen yourself in all the ways you know how. Do not allow yourself to emotionally spiral down and if you feel it starting to happen, reach out to a friend for help. Grief is appropriate, but you can’t let it run you. The point is to focus on action. It could be reading a book or an article and continuing to educate yourself on what’s happening. It could be attending a local protest. It could be communicating with your elected representatives, particularly if they are Republican. Attend any town halls that are related. What's important now is not so much the specific action you take, as the accumulation of energy you’re generating. Every particle of it matters.

The momentum is building, but we have a long, long way to go. People are waking up all over the country, but we have to add to the energy every day in every way. Do not shy away from posting. You don’t know who is reading and if even one person today opens their eyes to what’s going on because of something that you said or did, you had a successful day.

You were born for this. You are not alone. You are part of a field of energy connecting millions of people in this country and around the world.

This quote has been ringing in my ears over the last few days: Albert Camus’ “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”

That invincible summer is in all of us. We are absolutely so much stronger than we know.