The week did not start out well. Sunday morning I scrolled through the news, all about the tariffs that Mr. Trump had levied against Canada. This move would wreak havoc with our economy.
Was the whole goal of this game to fulfill what we’d thought were
only bad jokes on Mr. Trump’s part: “Canada should just become our 51st
state.” Ha ha. Not funny. Turns out he wasn’t joking. He has, more
seriously, threatened to use economic force to compel Canada to become
the 51st state.
The anxiety I felt after reading these stories
settled into my body like a heavy, dark presence. We’re doomed, I
thought. Canada is a little mouse, and we can roar, but we’re up against
an elephant.
What to do? The weather echoed my gloomy feelings.
A snow-laden grey sky loomed over us as we drove to church, with
towering clouds gathering over the hilltops.
Those dark clouds on the
horizon seemed to be symbolic of a future that was coming. How could I
deal with this? I am just one person, and a person without much power,
at that. Even if I joined a protest line, or wrote letters, even if I
boycotted American products in retaliation, what good would my little
gesture do?
I am very sure that what I’ve written so far will
feel very familiar to many people. It’s not just Canadians that are
anxious about the future. Many of our neighbours to the south are
distraught as they watch what looks like oligarchs and billionaires
taking over the reins of society and acting like merciless thugs. It
feels as though the nice safe world we inhabited for so long has gone
topsy-turvy. How can our comfortable spot in the world have turned so
suddenly into chaos?
Wise author Parker Palmer, in a recent
podcast, remarked: “A lot of Americans who are aghast at what is
happening in our country say,‘But, this is NOT who we are!’ Well, it’s
time to admit that this IS who we are. Our Western society has built its
prosperity, comfort and pleasure on the backs of others – slaves,
indigenous, people, colonialism, exploited workers, expanding profits
lining the pockets of stock holders. We are not innocent.” This comment
is not just about the US, it’s about Western Society. A time of
reckoning is upon us. We are entering a time in the world’s history when
things are going to get tough, as the structures we relied on for
security begin to crumble around us. And we feel helpless.
So what could a preacher say to me that would help me?
Keltie
started by lighting a candle and acknowledging that the events of this
week might leave us sad and bewildered. We wouldn’t know what to do, but
we could affirm the light, we could let our cares rest for a while. We
could do this together, in community. And I did. A little of the
darkness within seemed to lighten.
And then she began talking to
the children. The story she told was about a boy named Jeremiah. He was
just a lad – probably a teenager. God spoke to his heart and said, “I
know who you are. I have gifted you, and now I have a job for you.” The
job wouldn’t be easy; he was to tell people that they needed to repent
and change their ways. For too long, the oligarchs and autocrats had
ignored the laws of love and justice. Jeremiah responded with a protest:
“Who, me? But I’m just a kid.”
Then, looking up and over the
audience of mostly grey-hairs, Keltie asked, “And what might you have
said?” The responses were many: “Who, me? But I’m only an old person.”
“I have no power.” “I’m too busy.” “What can one person do or say that
will make a difference?”
Keltie addressed the children once more.
“So, if God asked you to do a big thing, to stand up and tell the
truth, what would you do?” There was a moment of silence, and then 9
year old Georgia piped up, “I”d say, okay, I’ll do it.”
Okay.
I’ll do it. Whatever it is, I’ll do it. Because each of us has gifts and
talents, and we are all called to use them to make this world a better
place. That was the gist of Keltie’s message to the congregation.
There
was more to the historical account, of course. Jeremiah went on to
become known as the prophet of doom, and he tried to convict people to
love justice and mercy, to walk and talk humbly. But they didn’t – their
society disintegrated and weakened; the upshot was that his people were
defeated and carried into exile in Babylon for 70 long years. “By the
rivers of Babylon we sat and wept,” sang BoneyM years ago. Perhaps we
too are sitting and weeping.
Jeremiah’s tribe became prisoners.
Now the playing field had been leveled. They were all, peasants and
oligarchs, in this together. It was in Babylon that they began to
examine and change their ways and plant seeds of a new life that
prospered when they finally were allowed to go home again.
We
are, no doubt about it, heading into a storm. There’s nothing pretty
about this situation. But we can do something. It’s how resistance to
evil starts. And as author Annie Lamott says, “There is no healing in
pretending this bizarre violent stuff is not going on ... What is true
is that the world has always been this way, people have always been this
way, grace always bats last, it just does–and finally, when all is said
and done, and the dust settles, which it does, Love is sovereign here.”
After
the service one of my friends said, “If they come to take over Canada,
I’ll be at the border. I won’t be carrying a gun, but I’ll raise my
hands and say, ‘Stop! Go no further.’” That will be her job – to speak
her intentions and build resilience in her little sphere of influence.
Imagine a chain of people stretched across the land from sea to sea or
before the border walls, saying, “No way!” It could happen!
As for me, as I sat and listened, my mind filled with ideas for a blog and a piece of art. That’s my job.
And what’s yours?
Well, the words came pretty easily, but the art? Not so much. I'm pleased with my background of a wintry field and a dark horizon, but how to complete this piece? I tried some possibilities, but none of them were quite right. Do I need to put up a fence? build a road? add people?
It seems to me I'll be needing to noodle on it, spend some time listening to my heart.
