This is it! (The Apocalypse)

I think most of us were hoping for a baby step. What we got was an apocalypse.

Like many of you I watched the Presidential Debacle last night. While there is so much to process, the moment that stood out in contrast most for me was Donald Trump’s refusal, when asked the softball question, to condemn white supremacy and racism. It’s pretty easy to say some version of, “I unequivocally and forcefully condemn white supremacy and racism.” That doesn’t even get down to the systemic racism that has undergirded our society for four hundred plus years. I think most of us were hoping for a baby step. What we got was an apocalypse.

By apocalypse I don’t mean the end of the world. The word simply means “an unveiling.” As I mentioned in Monday’s post, it’s a pulling back of the curtain to show what’s actually happening. Trump hasn’t been hiding his affinity for white supremacists over these past four years. The infamous, “fine people on both sides” comment about Charlottesville, when Nazis marched with torches and a counter protester was murdered by a racist in a car, is indicative of his unwillingness to condemn his white supremacist supporters. We all know they exist, they just shouldn’t feel so at home, so comfortable. Instead, Trump gave them the green light when he said, “Stand back and stand by,” and went further to encourage voter intimidation.

Trump’s presence has been apocalyptic in that it’s shown us the true colors of so many people—people we’ve known for years. People with which we’ve gone to school and church. People that we could never have imagined would be inspired by the racist rhetoric of this president.

It’s painful, and it’s sad.

But this moment will reveal something about all of us.

Where will we end up? How will history remember us?

My commitment, personally, is to seek to embody the Jesus path as best I can. To love my neighbor and my enemy. To speak the truth, even when my voice shakes and I lose friends. To stand with the oppressed and the marginalized, and call on the oppressors and marginalizers to experience repentance and transformation. To work for equity and equality, and confront and repent of the ways I have been complicit in supporting white supremacy in my life. To use the privilege I have as a white male to seek justice and human flourishing. To work for the transformation and healing of the world and the people who live in it. To choose love over fear, compassion over indifference, and abundance over scarcity.

I won’t be perfect at it.

But I have to try.

A better world is waiting.