There are days when the weight of the world settles so deeply into my bones that I can barely move beneath it. My nervous system is frayed, stretched between urgency and exhaustion, between the call to speak and the desperate need to withdraw. I don’t say this lightly—I feel the fractures in our nation, the suffering of our people, the silent weeping of Mother Earth. Some days, I write until my fingers ache, until the words pour out like a flood. Other days, I retreat into the stillness, trying to gather the pieces of my spirit, trying to breathe beneath the heaviness of it all. This is not indifference; this is survival. When I go silent, it is not because I have given up—it is because I am rebuilding the strength to rise again. And rise, I will.
And so must we all.
When Oaths Are Broken, Who Will Stand?
An oath is sacred. It is a covenant, a promise that binds us to something greater than ourselves. The leaders of this nation swore an oath—to protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution. But that promise has been shattered.
Donald Trump, entrusted with the highest office in the land, does not defend the Constitution—he desecrates it daily. He incites violence, fuels division, hate speech, marginalization, othering and undermines democracy itself attacking judges and defying the rule of law. And yet, he is not alone in this betrayal.
- Elected officials who took the same oath stand by in silence, or worse, they enable the destruction.
- Military leaders, sworn to protect this nation from all threats, remain passive as democracy crumbles from within.
- The judiciary, once the safeguard of justice, has been twisted into a tool for the powerful.
And while they abandon their oaths, the people suffer.
The Human Cost of Corruption
While politicians hoard power and wealth, real people bear the cost of their cruelty. The suffering is not theoretical—it is real, it is raw, and it is everywhere.
- The Disappeared and Forgotten – Thousands of missing Indigenous women and girls, stolen from their communities, their families left without answers. Migrant children, torn from their parents, lost in a system that sees them as less than human. Black and Brown lives, taken too soon, their killers walking free. ICE detaining every day citizens, deporting soccer stars seeking asylum, scientists, doctors, even a little girl recoveing from brain cancer.
- Veterans Betrayed – Those who served this nation, who carried its battles on their backs, now find their benefits slashed, their healthcare denied, their futures ignored. Homelessness among veterans rises while politicians wear the flag like a badge of honor but refuse to honor the people who defended it.
- The Poor Left Behind – Medicaid gutted. Housing unaffordable. Wages stagnating while the cost of living soars. Families forced to choose between rent, food, or medical care—while billionaires buy another mansion.
- Our Children’s Future Sold Off – Public schools defunded. Libraries banned. Teachers disrespected and underpaid. Education turned into a battleground for political theater while students struggle with outdated books, overcrowded classrooms, and a future that seems further out of reach.
- The Earth Crying Out – The Environmental Protection Agency defunded. National Parks exploited. Our forests burn, our oceans rise, and our air grows thick with the cost of greed. Disaster relief funds are slashed, leaving entire communities to fend for themselves when catastrophe strikes.
- The Sky No Longer Safe – FAA funding cut, leading to overworked air traffic controllers, outdated technology, and a system stretched too thin to protect the travelers who depend on it. We are told to expect delays, failures, and risks because profits matter more than people.
- Justice No Longer Blind – The powerful evade accountability while the vulnerable are imprisoned for less. The courts no longer serve justice but ideology. The system has been bought, and those who cannot afford to play the game are left to suffer its consequences.
This is the reality of a nation that has abandoned its promises.
A Nation at the Crossroads: What Happens Now?
If we are waiting for the cavalry, we must face the truth: No one is coming.
No president, no general, no judge will miraculously restore what has been lost unless the people demand it. This is our fight.
History does not bend toward justice on its own. The prophets of the Old Testament did not wait for corrupt kings to change their ways—they spoke out, they confronted, they warned. Jesus did not wait for the religious elite to correct their hypocrisy—He overturned their tables, He called them out, He stood with the poor and the outcast.
Faith without action is dead. (James 2:17)
Democracy without accountability is dead.
A nation without a moral compass is lost.
So what happens now? We rise.
A Pastoral Call to Action: Will We Rise?
We rise in truth. We refuse to be silent. We reject the propaganda, the gaslighting, the rewriting of history.
We rise in love. Not a weak, passive love, but a fierce love. The kind of love that protects the vulnerable, that builds community, that refuses to let hate win.
We rise in action. We vote. We organize. We march. We demand accountability.
- When they try to suppress votes, we show up in record numbers.
- When they cut education, we fight for our schools.
- When they strip healthcare, we demand care for all.
- When they allow injustice, we bear witness and refuse to look away.
Holding Space for the Sacred Work Ahead
I know this work is exhausting. I feel it in my bones.
Some days, I retreat into the quiet, overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. But withdrawal is not surrender—it is the gathering of strength. I have learned to honor the rhythms of resistance: the push and the pull, the fire and the stillness, the speaking out and the sacred pause to listen, to heal, to breathe.
If you, too, feel the weight of it all, know that you are not alone. There is no shame in stepping back when you need to. The work will still be here. The fight for justice is not a sprint but a calling.
But when you are ready—**when we are ready—**we rise.
We rise because it is right.
We rise because love demands it.
We rise because oaths still mean something to us.
We rise because if we don’t, who will?
The Constitution will not survive because the powerful suddenly found their conscience.
Justice will not prevail because those in office suddenly chose to do what is right.
Hope will not endure because we simply wish it to be so.
If democracy is to endure, if justice is to prevail, if truth is to matter—
It will be because we refused to let it die.
So I ask you again: Will we rise?
Thoughts, Prayers & Art 
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