Flourishing in the Public Square: Grief and Resistance in Troubled Times

Mobilizing resistance to man's inhumanity to man (Gender intentional)

Grief is sinking into the pain as the feelings of loss and sadness take over. It is also refusing to put on a Happy Face :) but to give in to the feelings of despondency, if not depression. It is to realize there are forces we cannot control that have hit us, and makes us feel badly, and then to know that, for a while at least, this impacts our way of being in the world.
Grief reminds we are not in charge. Instead, we have fallen into a deep valley which life has handed to us for the moment. It is to feel empty and alone, sad and angry. Sometimes we want to curl into a fetal position and weep and wail and possibly actually do so. Other times we lash out in anger at the change of circumstance. This is not what we want to happen! It is not what we want to feel! Yet, here we are. Grieving the pain and suffering – our own and other’s - in extraordinary times of political trouble and social upheaval.

The good news is that grieving is not fatal nor permanent. It comes and goes. Just when we think there is hope or that we have healed, it may well rush back in the least expected moments and hit us in the solar plexus. Then, just as suddenly it dissipates and normalcy returns and we can breathe again…until the next time. Each of us grieves differently and there is no predicting it. It just is. Welcome to life’s reality. All of us are living in such times thanks to election results and a bad actor in the White House with nefarious intent-starting with bludgeoning the “least of these” and moving quickly to everyone else. We will all feel the results of his narcissism and the evil of his morally-bankrupt followers. So our feelings are wider than just grief. It includes alarm, fear, anxiety, rage, and hopelessness to name a few. In these troubled times we are surrounded by a mess, and it appears our world is crashing and burning as things change without permission, things are destroyed that we cherish, and things are being stolen from us. How shall we get through this? I think I have some answers through the lens of my Christian and spiritual understanding. The answers are: One day at a time. Secondly: Together. And thirdly: Channeling the energy.

The Now Moment

First, we have today, in this very moment. Most fear and anxiety is found in the future tense of “what if…” But we can choose instead to be present to the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes and perhaps the touches of beauty and comfort. In the present moment we can always find little snippets of beauty some place. Even as the grief and other chaotic feelings descend like a foggy haze over our minds there is still always something beautiful to catch our eye or a beloved sound that will ease our mind. Find it. Breathe it in. Appreciate it. In.this.moment. It is all we have. We cannot live in the future tense nor return to the past. We have the gift of today. And, from this perspective if we stay in this moment of now that is at hand and focus on the beauty of it, this eases the pain.

There is alway energy in self-care and it always in This. Very. Moment.

See the Crowds Who Are on Our Side

Secondly, the good news is that contrary to how it may feel, We. Are. Never. Alone. There are others who feel the same way, or, if not, they can and will still be able to identify with us. When we run out of energy, we can use theirs. When we feel alone, we can still see others with us - nearby or right across from us. When we cannot discern what is next or know the best response, it is by being together that we can figure it out. Every sociologist will tell you that we are part of a social community that recognizes us and it reminds us who we are and how to be. Remember too that we have neighbors and allies across the globe who are are watching us and are on our side, hoping and praying for deliverance for us all. They are cheering us on to push back. It is only by being in community that will help us. There we problem-solve together and we honor the pain and do the work to alleviate it…together. To move through grief to get to the other side - however long that may take - is to know we have each other’s backs. We are in this together. This is not really about personal grief. Whenever we see another’s distress, it is in our human nature to want to reach out to relieve it. When we see others crying we often tear up. Grief is, or it can be when shared, communal. So while it is true that some have become so damaged to have lost access to their soulful and connective nature, the distress we feel at the moment simply reveals we are not the ones who are so damaged. Rather, it shows we are awake to the moral depravity of the morally compromised. We do not approach this type of crisis as individuals. We are in this together- and so, together, we will find “a way out of no way.”

There is energy in community.

The Energy is in the Soul Movement

And lastly, inasmuch as wounded people wound others and acts of evil can, and will, spread if not confronted or contained, so acts of resistance are just as contagious. Seeing courage makes others more courageous. One person’s determined spirit causes others to put their foot down and resist as well. Expressing hope lifts up everyone’s spirits. One person laughing can lead to everyone laughing. And one person’s resistance inspires others. It is the ripples that naturally move out from the stone that splashes into the still waters. So it is that our spirit touches other spirits and we lift those around us. Most religions have some teachings about spirit/Spirit. Whether we call this God, Allah, energy, non-local consciousness, or Love, most religions identify a Universal Goodness that is available and accessible to all. Whatever the name, this spiritual energy empowers us to do what right, to make choices with integrity, to speak up and to push back against all negativity that harms the human family. And when we resist it clears a path for Goodness to intervene in history.

From the Daze of Grief to the Action of Resistance

How to mobilize to resist man's inhumanity to man? (Gender is intentional here because this mess is primarily about men’s power - with a smaller group of cooperating women as enablers.) In Christian language it is to move into the realization and experience of love. It is to remember all of life is about love. There is a love energy. Life energy is love energy. Spreading love. Sharing love. Being love.
Self love? Focusing on the beauty in each Now Moment.
Love to others? Recognizing we are part of a larger whole.
Love as resistance? Moving toward love and bulldozing the death-dealing impediments to clear a path for more love in our communities…for all of us. To resist is to focus on the definitive beauty of every single moment of life, to recognize the connection we have to one another as humans-in-community, and to listen and respond to the Spirit of Universal Goodness. Resistance emerges when we:

Find beauty.
Seek Connection.
Move into Spirit.

And may we all be blessed with abundance. (John 10:10)