From heartbreak to love
Finding the path forward on November 9
I am so sad. Having to explain to my 6-year old daughter that we didn’t get the “first girl president” this morning was heartbreaking. Thinking about spending my holidays with family, some of which are Trump supporters, makes me sick to my stomach.
Up until this morning, whenever I saw or heard Trump, I felt like I had been dropped on another planet. I had such a strong feeling of unreality, of “this can’t possibly be happening”. Even during his acceptance speech last night, as others around me were bursting into tears, I simply felt like I was visiting the US from Mars. I no longer have this luxury.
This morning, I am listening to the important calls to organize, to lead, to fight but I am not ready for them yet. Instead, I am reflecting on the anger, hatred and fear that got Donald Trump elected.
What is the path forward for us that is grounded in love and empathy, in joy, in community?
The words from two OnBeing interviews are helpful to me this morning as I struggle to make sense of the country I live in.
First, Krista Tippett’s interview with Parker Palmer and Courtney Martin about rebellion is helping me to stay grounded. This conversation celebrates the importance of building a practice of rebellion that can last a lifetime. The path ahead of us will be long, let’s plan accordingly.
In the words of Thomas Merton, “The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”
At a deeper level, Krita’s conversation with geophysicist Xavier Le Pichon about fragility also echoes in my head. Xavier’s compelling argument that fragility is what makes us human, and that for things to be alive, things need to break, gives me hope in a strange kind of way. With our frailty and divisions on such stark display, can we start doing the real work of caring and healing?
As I gear up to join the resistance to a Trump presidency, I will do so from a place of compassion instead of hate. I still believe that love trumps hate.
