Rumblings. 7.10.25

Rumblings. 7.11.25 Final

1. “I jolted awake at 5 a.m. with a chilling realization. ICE is Trump’s personal army, and it just got a $170 billion boost … this makes ICE more well-funded than any other U.S. law enforcement agency and richer than the entire military budget of all but 15 countries. 

What will this money buy? … More agents. More raids. More power. 

What concerns me most is that ICE is classified as law enforcement—not military. For all its problems, the military has some limits. It needs Congressional approval for some actions… Not so with ICE. ICE is a paramilitary force with ultimate allegiance to the president. Not to the Constitution. Not to the people. Its mandate is vague and constantly shifting. 

It started with immigrants. But it can easily expand to include “rioters,” “dissenters,” “disloyal citizens.”It operates with almost no public oversight and responds directly to executive authority.” ~ Jemar Tisby

Is he being over the top dramatic? No, he’s just being an astute observer of our current political landscape. In it, there is a paucity of checks and balances and an overabundance of just plain stupid and evil. 

2. What’s interesting about Alligator Alcatraz is that Republicans are already figuring out ways to monetize the suffering of the people soon to be confined there. 

The detention facility might leak when it rains but T-shirts and hats are already available and flying off the shelves. I think this is reprehensible but hey, that’s me. 

Of course this is only keeping with POTUS’s philosophy that even the presidency can and should be monetized. 

Need a Bible, crypto, a phone, a nice table at Mara Lago, a tariff deal, or a fancy condo in Gaza? It’s either for sale now or will be soon. It doesn’t matter if it’s ethical or legal.  That ship has already sailed. 

Before you know it they’ll be holding a UCF brawl on the White House lawn? 

3. You cannot lynch me and keep me in ghettos without becoming something monstrous yourselves. And furthermore, you give me a terrifying advantage. You never had to look at me. I had to look at you. I know more about you than you know about me. Not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed until it is faced” – James Baldwin

What are you afraid of facing? As long as it’s not dealt with, it exerts great power over you. 

What’s our country afraid of facing?  Perhaps it’s the truth about what we’re becoming as a nation.

4. In the movie “Conclave” the Dean of the College of Cardinals addressed the prelates before they  cast the first vote:

“Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance. Even Christ was not certain at the end. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" he cried out in his agony at the ninth hour on the cross. Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand-in-hand with doubt. If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no mystery. And therefore, no need for faith. Let us pray that God will grant us a Pope who doubts. And let him grant us a Pope who sins and asks for forgiveness and who carries on.”

I admire those who wrestle with uncertainty but still manage to live a life that honors God.  I trust people like that. I want to be a person like that. I think this new Pope is that kind of person.

5. “We live in a time of great anger. We live in a time of great pain. And everywhere we look we seem to see people of faith stoking anger and inflicting pain.

But a resurrection church that follows a resurrected savior should be a balm, not a blowtorch. It will never be perfect, of course, but its fundamental orientation isn’t toward protecting itself, but toward serving others. Its default posture toward difference isn’t suspicion, but affection. 

It’s easy to look at a politicized faith and despair. My church — the American evangelical church — is the pillar of Trump’s political strength. As countless Christians cheer, he’s wielding the weapons of government to hurt many of the most vulnerable people in the world. 

But there is another faith — one far removed from the headlines — that is doing something else entirely. Quietly and patiently, person by person … this  faith loves its enemies. It mends the broken heart. And it declares, by word and deed, that no one is too lost to experience the love of God.” ~ David French, NY TIMES

6. It’s excruciatingly painful to watch a Cabinet Meeting. The only agenda it appears, is to have cabinet members spend a couple of hours propping up one man’s fragile ego. Nothing is really accomplished. 

The truth is that all over the world, real adults cringe when they watch it all unfold and late night comics dance with delight. 

7.  ”I don't regret anything I've ever done in life, any choice that I've made. But I'm consumed with regret for the things I didn't do, the choices I didn't make, the things I didn't say. We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection. But regret is the thing we should fear most.“~ Trevor Noah

We all have words and actions we regret saying and doing. For sure, there are times when all of us  were silent when we should have been bold. 

The answer? Confession is always good for the soul and making amends is laudable. 

8. Repair. Renew. Resist. Rejoice. 

These four words keep speaking to my heart and soul. 

I am asking God to repair what is broken in me, to renew and re-energize my faith, strength and courage, and to give me the will and desire to stand up for what’s just and honorable and to resist anything that isn’t. 

9. Esther, of OT fame, had her life interrupted when she was asked to do something really hard, for the sake of others. 

And she did it. 

May it be so for us.

10. “Hate has talked so loudly for so long. 

Greed has talked so loudly for so long. 

Liars have talked so loudly for so long.

Love has got to stop whispering.” ~ Marianne Williamson

Love doesn’t need to shout. However, it needs to find a way to make its presence felt. 🥲