“Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants.”— Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit 23a
This week, the United States reached a number so large that it is almost impossible to understand.
Forty trillion dollars.
That is now the total national debt of the United States.1 This includes money owed to the public and debts between parts of the federal government. The number alone does not mean the economy will collapse tomorrow, and experts can disagree about how much debt a wealthy country like the United States can handle. Still, most people who study the federal budget agree on one thing: we cannot keep going like this forever.
On the same day, President Trump gave reporters a tour of his construction projects at the White House. There is a new helipad, a new granite driveway, and a huge ballroom being built. He even signed his name on a piece of granite that will be part of the presidential seal on the helipad.2
The images felt allegorical. We are borrowing huge amounts from the future while the president literally carves his name into stone.
This is not just Donald Trump’s problem. The national debt has grown under presidents from both parties. We have fought wars without paying for them, cut taxes without cutting spending, and borrowed a lot during economic crises and the pandemic. We have made promises through Social Security and Medicare that are getting more expensive as the population ages. Now, the interest on our debt takes up more and more of what the government collects.
Trump’s policies have added a lot to the debt, especially tax changes that lowered federal revenue.3 But if we only blame one president, we avoid facing the bigger ethical question: What do we owe people who have not been born yet?
There is a wonderful story in the Jewish Talmud about a teacher named Honi who encountered an old man planting a carob tree.4 I’ve told us this story before, but its such a good one, let’s remember it together…
Honi asked the old man how long the tree would take to bear fruit.
“Seventy years,” the man replied.
Honi was confused. He knew the old man would not live long enough to eat from this tree.
The man answered that when he entered the world, he found carob trees planted by those who came before him. Just as his ancestors planted for him, he would plant for those who came after.
I love the clarity of this story. The old man saw wealth in a different way than we do. His wealth was not merely what he possessed. His wealth was what he could pass forward. He saw himself as part of a chain of responsibility, reaching back to ancestors he never met and forward to descendants he would never see.
Many Indigenous traditions share this wisdom. The choices we make today also affect future generations. The Earth is not just something we inherit from our ancestors. It is also something our descendants trust us to care for.
Modern economies have often turned that relationship upside down. Instead of planting trees for future generations to enjoy, we are more often leaving them with the bill.
We borrow money now and leave them the interest.
We burn fossil fuels now and leave them the changing climate.
We exhaust aquifers now and leave them the dry wells.
We accumulate conveniences and leave them the waste.
We build monuments to ourselves and ask them to maintain them.
This is where economics connects with our values and beliefs. A budget is really a moral document. It shows whose lives we choose to support and whose lives we are willing to burden.
Debt is not always a bad thing. Families borrow to buy homes, and businesses borrow to build factories. Governments borrow to build roads, educate children, respond to disasters, and make investments that can help for generations. Borrowing for the future can be responsible if we give something valuable back to those who come after us.
The bigger question is whether we are leaving our descendants things that are worth the debts we pass on to them. Will they inherit functioning bridges and healthy forests? Good schools and clean water? Scientific institutions and resilient communities? A stable climate? A democracy capable of solving problems? Or will they inherit huge debts, damaged ecosystems, broken infrastructure, and monuments built by people who only held power for a short time?
Spiritual traditions have asked this kind of question for thousands of years, because true wisdom looks beyond a single lifetime. We are only here for a short time in a story that started before us and will go on after we are gone.
Maybe this is what we should remember when we look at the huge number $40,000,000,000,000. Behind all those zeros are people. Some are alive today. Many are not.
They are children who will be born in 2040, 2070, and 2100. They will live with decisions made in rooms they never entered, by leaders they never chose, in an economy they did not help create. We will never know their names. But they are already our neighbors.
Honi’s old man understood that. So he planted the tree.
Maybe a healthy society is not measured by how grand a ballroom it can build for those in power today. Maybe the real measure is whether we are willing to plant something today that will only benefit people we will never meet.
That is stewardship. That is love stretched across generations. And right now, we have some trees to plant.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
What have you inherited from people you never knew—materially, spiritually, environmentally or civically—that made your life possible?
Where are we currently asking future generations to bear costs that rightly belong to us?
What are you planting now whose fruit you may never see?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer For Those Who Come After Us
Holy Mystery, We give thanks for those who planted before us. For people whose names we will never know who built schools, tended forests, protected rivers, created institutions, raised children, preserved wisdom and imagined futures they would never live to see. We are living beneath their branches. Forgive us when we forget that we, too, are ancestors. Free us from the illusion that the world belongs only to the living. Teach us to consider the children who will walk this Earth long after we are gone. May they inherit clean water and fertile soil, healthy communities and trustworthy institutions, wisdom greater than our fear and possibilities larger than our mistakes. Give us courage to sacrifice something now for people who can never thank us. Teach us to measure wealth by what we leave flourishing behind us. And when our own lives have passed into memory, may there be trees somewhere whose roots remember that we were here. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Plant Something You Will Not Finish
The old man in the Talmud planted a tree knowing that someone else would eat its fruit.
Try practicing that kind of love this week. Choose one thing you can begin but will probably never complete. You might plant an actual tree. You might contribute to a child’s education, restore a patch of land, support an organization whose work will continue beyond your lifetime, preserve a family story, mentor someone younger, help strengthen a public institution, or make a financial decision that leaves more possibility for those who come after you. The action matters less than the time horizon.
Before you begin, imagine someone living seventy years from now. You don’t know their name. You don’t know what they look like. You don’t know what they believe, whom they love, what language they speak or what kind of world surrounds them. But for a moment, imagine them receiving something because of a decision you made today.
Then do the thing: Plant. Give. Teach. Protect. Repair.
Resist the temptation to measure the return. Some forms of love are never meant to come back to us. They travel forward. Let yours go.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
My team and I launched a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. Join the community here.
August 20, 2026, 7-8:45pm ET - I will be joining Jackie Sussman for an online session on practicing eidetics as a part of our “Reclaiming the Power of Imagination” monthly series. Eidetic Imagery is a powerful tool for pastors, denominational leaders, coaches, and spiritual directors working with others, and for individuals seeking deeper integration and healing in their own lives. Jackie is a psychotherapist, author, and leading expert in Eidetic Image Psychology, and has spent over forty years helping leaders and individuals unlock creativity, uncover hidden strengths, and move through limiting patterns. During this session, she will lead a live Eidetic process shaped by mythic imagery, offering a direct experience of the work. REGISTER HERE.
August 25 - September 1, 2026, 12:30-1:30pmET - Book Club in The Commons - FREE - We are reading our next book, “I Eat The Stars” by Sarah Wilson. We will meet each Tuesday for 6 weeks. It’s such great fun. I hope you will be a part. All are welcome! RSVP HERE.
September 8, 2026, 12:30 - 1:30pm ET, ONLINE EVENT with NY Times Best-Selling author and journalist, Sarah Wilson!!! Sarah has just published her latest book I Eat The Stars: How to Live Fully and Beautifully in a Collapsing World. Join us for this one hour conversation where we will talk with Sarah about how we face collapse, how we find beauty and who we can become in these challenging times. Scholarships are available. REGISTER HERE.
September 8, 2026, 7-9pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - I’ll be hosting a powerful online gathering on The Black Madonna: Sacred Wisdom for a World in Crisis with Matthew Fox, Alessandra Belloni, and Christena Cleveland. We will explore the Black Madonna as a symbol of resilience, liberation, sacred feminine wisdom, and healing in a fractured world through conversation, story, music, and spiritual reflection. If you feel drawn toward a deeper encounter with the Divine Feminine and the ancient traditions that continue to nourish movements for justice and wholeness, I hope you’ll join us. Learn more and REGISTER HERE.
September 14, 7-8:30pm ET ONLINE EVENT - I’m delighted to share that Dr. Margaret Wheatley is releasing a newly updated edition of her beloved book Perseverance: A Companion for the Journey this October. Written for those committed to serving the world with compassion in difficult times, the book offers daily wisdom and practical guidance for navigating grief, anger, exhaustion, and uncertainty while remaining rooted in love, courage, and presence. Meg and I will be in conversation to explore what perseverance looks like in this moment of history and how we can sustain ourselves for the long work ahead. I hope you’ll join us for what promises to be a deeply meaningful conversation. REGISTER HERE.
October 6, 2026 - 7-8:30pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - Matthew Fox and I are teaming up again to launch a series called Journeying with the Mystics. The mystics have always emerged in times of uncertainty. They appear when old certainties are crumbling, when institutions no longer provide easy answers, and when people find themselves longing for a deeper experience of the Sacred. Join us for an 18-session exploration of the teachings of St. John of the Cross, Thomas Merton, Hildegard of Bingen, Kabir and Rumi, Meister Eckhart and more. This is more than a lecture series. It is an invitation into a living spiritual journey. REGISTER for the first session HERE!
October 18-21, 2026 - PREACH! 2026 Conference- I’ll be co-hosting PREACH in Minneapolis with Church Anew, a new gathering for preachers, storytellers, worship leaders, and spiritual communicators navigating what it means to speak with clarity, compassion, and courage in a changing world. If you’ve sensed that the preaching moment has changed and are longing for thoughtful community and renewed imagination for this work, I hope you’ll join us.
November 10, 7-8:30pm ET - I’ll be joined by theologian, writer, and professor Dr. Debra Rienstra for a special ONLINE conversation on Refugia Faith. In ecology, refugia are small places where life survives amid disruption, pockets of resilience from which life can eventually regenerate and spread. Debra invites us to consider what this might mean spiritually in an age of climate instability, political turmoil, institutional decline, and profound uncertainty. What if our congregations, communities, relationships, and even our own lives could become refugia, places where courage, compassion, beauty, wisdom, and possibility are protected and cultivated for whatever comes next? I hope you’ll join us for this timely and deeply hopeful conversation. REGISTRATION COMING SOON!
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.
My dear friend, Rev. Shawna Bowman has just launched a new podcast with musician Jennifer Knapp called “My Wise Friend Podcast.” They talk about it this way: “You might know Jennifer from her years as a touring musician and songwriter, weaving stories and songs together across the country. You might know Shawna from their work as an artist, speaker, and community leader exploring the intersection of spirituality, justice, and creativity. While our daily work looks different, we share a deep love for real talk, deep questions, and finding wisdom in unexpected places.” I am so excited about this! I hope you will check it out and support them. https://www.patreon.com/cw/mywisefriendpodcast
I’m delighted to celebrate the upcoming release of Wisdom Church: Abundant Life for Aging Congregations by my colleague, Rev. Dr. Anna Hall. Rather than seeing aging congregations as communities in decline, Anna invites us to recognize them as communities rich with wisdom, purpose, and possibility. Her book offers a hopeful vision for moving beyond anxiety about the future and embracing the unique gifts of older adults as beloved children of God. If your congregation is navigating these questions, this is a resource well worth reading. You can preorder the Kindle edition now, with delivery on August 17: https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Church-Abundant-Aging-Congregations-ebook/dp/B0HBXGYTWC
Starting again on September 7 for every Monday, 12pm ET - ONLINE WRITING GROUP - My dear friend, Meryl Marshall-Daniels, is leading a writing group open to all. This is a simple and spacious writing circle for people who want time to listen inwardly and put words on the page without overthinking, performing, or polishing. Meryl offers a prompt designed to invite reflection, imagination, and attunement to what is already alive within you. The practice honors writing as a way of listening, of letting images, memories, questions, and insights surface in their own time. Learn more here.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
Associated Press, “The US national debt now stands at $40 trillion,” August 19, 2026.
Reuters, “Trump the builder carves his legacy in stone as pressures mount,” August 19, 2026.
Reuters, “US debt crosses $40 trillion threshold after doubling under Trump and Biden,” August 19, 2026.
Babylonian Talmud, Ta'anit 23a:15–16.
Good morning, Rev. Cameron. I give you some words planted by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) in her novel, Middlemarch. These are the last words of this incredible story written in 1871.
""...for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."
Imagine Mary Ann's surprise if someone told her that her words would travel into the 21st century and take root on a communication platform she would have never dreamed of!
Let us plant 40 BILLION TREES.