Prepare, Pray, Protest, Presence – & Play

In her October 25, 2025 Letters from an American post, Heather Cox Richardson wonders:

‘What are we doing here, folks?’

She then quotes the USDA’s website (which is in violation of the Hatch Act that ‘prohibits the use of government resources for partisan ends’) which then – and erroroneously – read:

‘Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food staples program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilations procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.’

[They have since updated it to read:

‘Senate Democrats have voted 14 times against reopening the government. This compromises not only SNAP, but farm programs, food inspection, animal and plant disease protection, rural development, and protecting federal lands. Senate Democrats are withholding services to the American people in exchange for healthcare for illegals, gender mutilation, and other unknown “leverage” points.’

The scapegoating, lying, divisiveness, and coercion layered into these two grossly false statements are tragic.

The current administration is functioning as a fully authoritarian regime. The welfare of our neighbors is in great jeopardy.

Jesus’ entire life and ministry was spent in direct confrontation of this type of Empire power.

The Church, as Christ’s body on Earth, is called to a stance of solidarity with and witness for the most vulnerable – the least, the lost, the lonely (everywhere); the poor, the widowed, the orphaned (esp. Isaiah); the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned (Matt. 25); the ‘alien among us’, the marginalized (everywhere).

Now is our time to act boldly for the sake of justice and righteousness (Amos 5:24-25).

STEP ONE

PREPARE FOR AND PARTICIPATE IN LOCAL ELECTIONS THIS FALL.

Depending on where you live, your 2025 ballot could include:

  • Municipal elections for mayor and/or city council
  • School board races
  • Township officers
  • Local ballot questions
  • A special election for Senate District 29 or Senate District 47

All of these positions hold great power over establishing quality of life and safety networks, social norms, and access to resources.

Your Sunday, November 2, Adult Forum is a no-brainer:

Make your plan to vote and ensure your voice is heard!

Preview my ballot

Early voting info

News sources spotlighting candidates and their positions and perspectives:

Minneapolis Mayoral Candidates

Sahan Journal

MPR News

Minnesota Star Tribune

Additional steps:

  • Create a team of election poll accompaniers for vulnerable populations.
  • Train people in voter rights, especially for marginalized community members.
  • Encourage early voting – ballots must be received by November 4 to be counted.

STEP TWO

PRAY FOR THE SPIRIT’S POWER.

In her October 18, 2025, Sunday Musings reflections, Protest and Prayer, Diana Butler Bass shares yet another assault on clergy – this time in Chicago – where a Methodist pastor was beaten and removed from a prayer service outside an ICE facility. Here’s that news article.

Bass’s guest writer, Wes Granberg-Michaelson, author of, The Soulwork of Justice: Four Movements for Contemplative Activism (Orbis), concludes his Sunday Musings writing:

‘The widow’s prayerful pleading for justice carries a different kind of power, its own power, operating at an interior and spiritual level. It is unpredictable and rooted in the Spirit. It can break through at unexpected times and startling ways. It’s not in our control. But it is at work. We can learn to trust in this as our lives sink more deeply into the presence of God. Perseverance and resilience then take root within us which is the gift most deeply needed today by all who, like the widow, are pleading for justice. That’s why Jesus concludes the parable by reminding us of who God is. And inviting us into faith, ready to embrace unexpected breakthroughs that suddenly open a way to justice. Imagine the joy and surprise on the face of the widow.

The late Desmond Tutu shared with audiences a story about meeting a nun who prayed for him and the anti-apartheid struggle every night. “Hey, here I am being prayed for by a nun at 2 AM in the morning in the woods in California,” Tutu proclaimed. “What chance does the South African apartheid government stand?”

Let us pray.’

Bass then shares two incredible poems:

Both are worth reading regularly and can be shared in worship or study groups as communal grounding prayers

STEP THREE

PROTEST – REPEATEDLY

Bass reminds us of the biblical No Kings Day found in 1 Samuel 8:11-18a.

[Read Bass’s full Protest and Prayer post.]

Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1ff; Mark 11:1ff; Luke 19:28ff; and John 12:12ff) is another biblical No Kings Rally, as empirical troops march in from one gate while Jesus – riding a borrowed donkey – offers a different way of ordering society and a different form of leader: that of servant and healer.

ISAIAH – a collective of religious communities, barber shops, manufactured home residents, and child care centers – trains community leaders and shapes political platforms and policies.

The Christian network of ISAIAH is creating a ‘Palm Sunday Path’.

PALM SUNDAY PATH UPPER MIDWEST TRAINING

All clergy and denominational leaders from Minnesota and Upper Midwest and Northern Plains states are encouraged to share in the vision of the Palm Sunday Path and receive training in the first steps of making this path to action a reality.

Invite your colleagues in Minnesota and beyond!

Learn more and register using the link attached to each date.

Upcoming Palm Sunday Path online trainings include:

STEP FOUR

BE A PRESENCE FOR VISIONING AND NEW MORAL CLARITY

Echoing Granberg-Michaelson, Rev. Cameron Trimble’s Rising 7 Million Strong! begins with Dorothee Sölle’s quote:

‘We are not simply resisting something; we are saying yes to a deeper reality.‘

Trimble concludes:

‘This is the work now. Not just protesting – though protest matters. Not just voting – though that too is critical. The deeper work is to reclaim our moral clarity. To find each other again in the streets and sanctuaries and kitchens and Zoom calls. To remember that we belong to one another. And to act like it.’

Her Reflection Questions, Prayer for the Day, and Spiritual Practice are all part of this work. Find her full post here.

Churches are essential places of relationship building and story telling. Creating space for one-on-one conversations – not just in your building, but throughout your communities – has never been more important. Develop relationships by being present ‘in the streets and sanctuaries and kitchens and Zoom calls’.

  • Ask questions:
    • How do people feel?
    • What do people need?
    • What fears and anxieties are surfacing?
    • What hopes and dreams are shared?
  • Listen deeply.
  • Speak truth.
  • Share real stories of what is happening and how lives and creation are affected.
  • Wonder together:
    • Where is God?
    • Where is the Spirit leading us?
    • What is ours to do?
    • How do we support others in doing what is theirs to do?
  • Listen deeply.
  • Rest and pray together.
  • Create beauty.

STEP FIVE

PLAY – TOGETHER, OUT LOUD, IN THE COMMUNITY!!

In her October 14, 2025 Lucid post, The Portland Chicken Has a Degree in Game Theory: The Power of Humor, and Resistance Actions as ‘Coordination Games’, Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes,

‘The Portland Chicken, along with the Portland Frog and other cartoon characters, has given visibility and support to peaceful protests…

The cartoon characters also provide a repertoire of counter-images that can inspire others to stand up, speak out, and be present as more people are silenced and disappear. The sight of a giant frog confronting heavily armed agents, the joyful dance scenes, and flowers being paraded in front of ICE masked agents, all disrupt government propaganda about who we are, why we protest, and what our communities are like.’

Creativity, artistic flare, and basic humor are narrative disrupters – and essential spirit-lifters amidst anger, fear, hostility, and violence.

The also underscore the essential peaceful nature of healthy and hopeful protest.

~~~

Through story telling – deep listening paired with truth-speaking – we create a shared vision and moral clarity; we create belonging.

Belonging means we are not ripped apart, we are not divided, we are not alone. Belonging is a balm.

We are in this together.

~~~

Find additional support for every step of the way in this week’s Six New Things.