I don't mean we need people to read scripture and give spiritual guidance - although that would be okay too.
We need people to minister to the needs of our activists that have been on the front lines of these political struggles. The ones who have been out there for ages, and for the ones that will be worn down soon. We need people to donate time and energy and possibly professional skills (i.e. counselling, medical care, etc.) to these people.
They are wearing out.
For some of you, the 2017 USA elections were an eye-opener. For others, it was just another mill-stone in an already weighty struggle. I live with an amazing woman who has given up her academic career (as in tenure) to chase after a better country for us all. She has worked for no money as an activist on Capitol Hill lobbying Congress on various environmental and low-income issues, as well as working to put several progressive candidates into office. The stress she has endured since 2000 has been phenomenal. Worst, it has come most from those she was fighting FOR. She has been ridiculed and derided out of her own political party as being "paranoid" and "incendiary" and (my personal favorite) "too honest". Everything she warned about and fought against came to an abscess-like head with this past election cycle. Now - holding the same position she has always held - she is being accused of being a traitor to the very cause that she has given her life energy to - simply because she won't panic and run around screaming.
She is too worn out to do that now. She did it 17 years ago and has been told repeatedly to "sit down and shut up - you're rocking the boat". Well, now the boat of the Democratic party has well and truly sunk while the Republican party is polling along on the remnants of its raft and ejecting all but its leadership to stay afloat. There are a lot of scared people in this river together. It is so very important that in our fear we don't try to sink each other to stay afloat. That never works guys. We know that.
So, I come back to my title. We need ministers. We need a place for our activists to gather and be fed in mind, body and in spirit (of their choosing, of course). Honestly, I'd settle for mind and body. We need a way to hold a little place for them and say "Be at peace while you are here. Lick your wounds and leave stronger than you arrived".
I don't know how to do that except to hold parties and stay connected - which sounds frivolous and honestly a bit stupid to my mind. However, I honestly believe in the powers of tea and soup to bond people together. I believe that shared meals and camaraderie can make a community strong enough to weather this. I also acknowledge that tea and soup can only go so far. We need professionals now. We need some folks with skills to step up and offer their services pro-bono or on a sliding scale or some shit. We are losing our activists to wear. We are losing our children (i.e. Millennials and down) to overwork and poor health. We need ministers to bolser up the very real needs of our activists.
We need people to minister to the needs of our activists that have been on the front lines of these political struggles. The ones who have been out there for ages, and for the ones that will be worn down soon. We need people to donate time and energy and possibly professional skills (i.e. counselling, medical care, etc.) to these people.
They are wearing out.
For some of you, the 2017 USA elections were an eye-opener. For others, it was just another mill-stone in an already weighty struggle. I live with an amazing woman who has given up her academic career (as in tenure) to chase after a better country for us all. She has worked for no money as an activist on Capitol Hill lobbying Congress on various environmental and low-income issues, as well as working to put several progressive candidates into office. The stress she has endured since 2000 has been phenomenal. Worst, it has come most from those she was fighting FOR. She has been ridiculed and derided out of her own political party as being "paranoid" and "incendiary" and (my personal favorite) "too honest". Everything she warned about and fought against came to an abscess-like head with this past election cycle. Now - holding the same position she has always held - she is being accused of being a traitor to the very cause that she has given her life energy to - simply because she won't panic and run around screaming.
She is too worn out to do that now. She did it 17 years ago and has been told repeatedly to "sit down and shut up - you're rocking the boat". Well, now the boat of the Democratic party has well and truly sunk while the Republican party is polling along on the remnants of its raft and ejecting all but its leadership to stay afloat. There are a lot of scared people in this river together. It is so very important that in our fear we don't try to sink each other to stay afloat. That never works guys. We know that.
So, I come back to my title. We need ministers. We need a place for our activists to gather and be fed in mind, body and in spirit (of their choosing, of course). Honestly, I'd settle for mind and body. We need a way to hold a little place for them and say "Be at peace while you are here. Lick your wounds and leave stronger than you arrived".
I don't know how to do that except to hold parties and stay connected - which sounds frivolous and honestly a bit stupid to my mind. However, I honestly believe in the powers of tea and soup to bond people together. I believe that shared meals and camaraderie can make a community strong enough to weather this. I also acknowledge that tea and soup can only go so far. We need professionals now. We need some folks with skills to step up and offer their services pro-bono or on a sliding scale or some shit. We are losing our activists to wear. We are losing our children (i.e. Millennials and down) to overwork and poor health. We need ministers to bolser up the very real needs of our activists.
