A Lit Candle in a Dark Room
Shining Through the Darkness: Faith, Resistance, and Hope
For those of you who regularly read my work, you know I have been feeling the blues of living in Trump’s America. And I specifically call it Trump’s America because I have lost any sense of connection to this nation and a large portion of its citizens. I view everything through a jaded lens, wondering: How could so many people be so ignorant? How can so many people be so hateful? How can so many people be so greedy?
Knowing full well that this is not how I want to live my life, I made an appointment with the priest of my parish. I didn’t know what to expect—after all, bad spiritual leadership is one of the reasons we are in this place. However, I knew what I was looking for would not be found in a therapy session. I needed to find an outlet. I needed to understand why I am so angry.
In my last post, I spoke about taking the advice from our homily over the weekend. I read my Bible. I wrote about passages I found regarding false prophets and the hoarding of wealth. I found many more verses beyond what I shared, and as I read them, I began to understand why I was so upset. Quite frankly, my priest put it perfectly: At the moment, I am a candle burning brightly in an otherwise dark room. Friends and family members may have had their flames snuffed out by the lies of fascism, but I have not.
This leaves me at a fork in the road. Do I allow my flame to be extinguished? Do I turn a blind eye to the atrocities happening daily and focus solely on the safety and security of my family? While I understand those who have made that choice, I cannot make it myself. Instead, I take the road less traveled and let my flame burn bright into the dark night.
It is my hope that others will see my flame and ask me to help relight the one that once burned within them. It is my hope that my brightly burning flame can be a beacon of light in dark times for those who also feel lost. It is my hope that maybe—just maybe—if we all burn brightly enough, the room we are in will become just a little less dark. As Scott has mentioned in his articles, “My faith and my patriotism are not for sale.” And this little light of mine is going to shine.
So, my challenge to all of you who feel abandoned, lost, hurt, or disenchanted is this: Let’s light our candles. Let’s find some way to be a beacon of light for those in need. Find a single cause you can focus on and make a difference however you can. If you love to bake, make as much bread as possible and help feed the hungry. If you know how to fix a car, lend a hand to a single mom who is down on her luck. Do what you can with what you have.
I know I will.
This may be longer than most want to read, but it’s something I’ve been noodling about since 1/20. So here goes. We need a leader inside our Democratic Party that can lead us out of this. It may be 4 years before we can see the results but it has to start now. We have a maniac in the White House along with a group of cabinet members and advisors that are every but as bad. Malignant narcissistic billionaires and brainwashed cultists are running our country. The republicans in congress are also brainwashed and mainly looking after their staying in power- until things get so bad they have to change their narrative.
Unfortunately, the pain will need to be so bad with their voters that they have to break away from Trump. I don’t see any way around that. It will be painful for all us.
There’s a treasure trove of ammunition a Democratic leader can use to finally start changing the tide. The sooner the better. Lies, unconstitutional actions, complete jibberish communicated by the president and his mouthpieces that need to be called out in no uncertain terms. It needs to be repeated and repeated. Maybe then the MSM will start telling their readers and followers the truth.
In the Biden administration, Democrats waited until it was too late. A new leader needs to be put out there soon. Needs to be someone that is charismatic, well spoken and capable of changing the the narrative that Republicans now own.
If we don’t change the narrative, Trump may very well be President for 8 more years