As the credits rolled at the end, we grabbed our phones to check messages and discovered that there had just been an assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
By the time we got home, the conspiracy theories were already in full swing. Had he faked it? Who was the shooter? Why didn’t the Secret Service react differently? Would this lead to more violence?
This morning, the media storm is a toxic cesspool of polarized rhetoric.
I feel sick.
Wendy and I sat at the table this morning and tried to understand how some can be so brainwashed by the cult of Trump, realizing that many of them are sitting at their own tables asking themselves similar questions about how we could become so brainwashed by the liberal media.
And we know the answer: The Algorithm.
It feeds us all a steady diet of confirmation bias that further divides us from one another until each of us sees the world through such a completely different lens that we can barely communicate.
We know what is causing it, and we know it’s dividing us, and we know it’s tearing the fabric of our nation in half, and we cannot do a single thing about it.
Division has always been the weapon of choice for those in power.
To keep us distracted from the real causes of our suffering and redirected against one another so we’re all so busy focused on fighting one another that none of us ever looks up and realizes who is really pulling our strings.
And in spite of all of this turmoil and division and violence, the machine that keeps them in power is untouched.
In fact, as we tear one another apart, the Stock Market is stronger than ever.
Almost as if our animosity against each other were somehow fueling the mechanism that makes them richer today than they were the day before.
So, they throw another log on the fire.
We burn. They laugh.
We suffer. They cash in.
We die. They thrive.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Here in the final days of the American Empire, let’s reflect on what might save us.
Instead of division, what if we worked towards unity?
Instead of playing this game of “Us vs Them”, what if we looked for our shared humanity in the face of the other?
Instead of demonizing the Red and defending the Blue [or vice versa] what if we resolved to love only everyone?
What if we refused to play along?
What if what divides us became unacceptable?
What if we all became one human race?
What if our borders meant nothing?
What if our labels fell away?
What if no one could put us into a box?
What if we became immune to fear?
What if we turned off the news?
What if we would rather die than draw a line in the sand?
What if we became we and no one was them?
What if all of these “what ifs” weren’t too unrealistic?
What if we could really, truly, come together and love, love, love until all the hate was gone?
What if our failure to do these things is the reason why our children forget to have faith in the future?
What if the future is now?
What if this is our last chance to get it right?
This is when I wish I had the power to speak to everyone at once.
This is when I pray that we all wake up before we divide ourselves into so many pieces that no one can ever put us back together again.
Will you pray with me?
Will you keep praying until the sun comes over the horizon again?
Will you pray – and love – until our eyes adjust to the light?
Will you pray until every voice joins the song?
Will you pray until the dream comes true?
Will you pray until your own heart breaks?
Will you pray until love finds a way?
I think this is why we have to pray, and love, without ceasing.
Because I’m afraid of what may happen if we ever stop.
**
The newest book from Keith Giles, “The Quantum Sayings of Jesus: Decoding the Lost Gospel of Thomas” is available now on Amazon. Order HERE>
Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.”
He co-hosts The God Squad podcast, and the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast.
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