Crossing the Bridge Again
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“They covet fields, and seize them… they oppress householder and house, people and their inheritance.” — Micah 2:2
Saturday, thousands gathered in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama to march for voting rights again. They crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, prayed, sang freedom songs, and stood in the shadow of a history that many would rather believe is over. But history is not over.
I live in Alabama, and I love the South. I love its stories, music, hospitality, resilience, and strong sense of place. I love the people here. But I also know the South has wounds that never fully healed. Lately, I’ve seen many of those wounds reopening in ways that should worry us all.
After the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, aggressive redistricting swept across southern states. In Alabama, maps that had started to give Black communities fairer representation are already being taken apart again. The speed is staggering, and sadly, it feels all too familiar.
People often say we are “going backward,” but I’m not sure that’s completely true. Saying we’re going backward suggests the past went away and then came back. The truth is, some parts of this country never let go of the idea of racial hierarchy. The words and methods change, but the struggle over who truly belongs in American democracy keeps coming back, generation after generation.
In 1965, marchers crossing that bridge were beaten nearly to death by state troopers while asking for something very basic: the right to vote. Rep. John Lewis suffered a fractured skull there. Ordinary people were tear-gassed, trampled, clubbed, and bloodied just for insisting that Black Americans deserved full participation in public life.
Yet they kept marching. That’s the part of the story I keep coming back to now, not just the violence, but the courage. Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s choosing that something else matters more than fear.
I think of the story of Naboth’s vineyard.
In 1 Kings 21, King Ahab wants Naboth’s vineyard. Naboth refuses because the land isn’t just property, it’s inheritance. It holds memory, family, identity, and belonging. Queen Jezebel then arranges false accusations, corrupt testimony, and legal tricks so the king can take what he couldn’t get honestly. Everything about the process looks official. Elders gather, witnesses testify, and a sentence is given. The legal system remained intact, but justice is hollowed out from within. That is often how injustice works. It arrives through procedures, technical language, courts, committees, and maps that appear neutral while quietly protecting power.
Redistricting works like this too. Lines on a map might seem technical, but they can break up communities, weaken representation, and take away people’s real political voice. When Black communities in the South finally gain representation, only to see it taken apart by court-approved maps, it’s more than a political fight. It’s a struggle over belonging, inheritance, and agency.
The deeper question isn’t just whether rules were followed. It’s whose lives are being harmed by how those rules are used.
That’s where Selma still speaks to us.
The marchers weren’t asking for symbolic inclusion. They wanted the real right to help shape the world that shaped them. They knew that democracy without equal participation is just a show of freedom, not true freedom.
When a society uses laws to limit participation but claims to be neutral, it repeats an old pattern from scripture: power taking what it wants and calling the process legitimate.
Still, Saturday gave me hope. Together, we witnessed the walking testimony of people who refuse to give up. We all need that spirit today.
Democracy doesn’t take care of itself. Every generation has to decide if it’s willing to protect it. Protecting it always costs something—time, energy, courage, persistence, organizing, and moral clarity.
The people who crossed that bridge in 1965 understood this. The people who crossed it again on Saturday understand it too.
The question now is whether the rest of us will remember this before it’s too late.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Where do you see legality being used to protect power while weakening justice?
What communities today are still fighting to fully belong within the shared life of democracy?
What would courageous participation look like for you in this moment?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer For The Courage to Keep Marching
Holy One, we confess how easy it is to grow tired. The systems feel large. The injustice feels persistent. Sometimes it seems as though the same battles must be fought over and over again. And yet, generation after generation, people continue crossing bridges toward freedom. Give us some of that courage. Protect us from cynicism disguised as wisdom. Protect us from the temptation to withdraw simply because the work is difficult. Help us remember that democracy is not sustained by courts and institutions alone. It survives because ordinary people refuse to abandon one another. And when fear tells us to stay silent, strengthen us to keep walking toward a more just and generous world. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Crossing the Bridge
Today, spend time learning about the history of voting rights where you live.
Read about the people who organized, marched, suffered, and risked their safety so others could participate more fully in democracy. Learn the names of local leaders, churches, organizers, and communities who carried that struggle forward.
Then ask yourself a harder question: What bridge are we being asked to cross now?
Perhaps it is having difficult conversations. Perhaps it is organizing locally. Perhaps it is refusing despair. Perhaps it is protecting the dignity and participation of people whose voices are being diminished.
Before the day ends, take one concrete step toward participation rather than passivity.
Democracy survives because people keep showing up for one another.
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.
May 27, 2026, 12pm ET - FREE WEBINAR - I will be hosting an online experience titled “Reclaiming the Power of Imagination: A live experiential webinar with Jackie Sussman." Jackie, a psychotherapist, author, and leading expert in Eidetic Image Psychology, 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.
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.
I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.
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.
There are moments when a spiritual path calls not only to the mind, but to the body, the voice, and the ancient memory carried deep within us. This summer, internationally acclaimed folk artist and teacher Alessandra Belloni is leading a pilgrimage along the Amalfi Coast centered on the Black Madonna, sacred chant, ritual drumming, and devotional dance rooted in centuries-old traditions of Southern Italy. Participants will visit ancient sacred sites, learn healing rhythms and chants passed down through generations of women, and explore the wisdom of the Divine Feminine through music, movement, and ritual. If this stirs something within you, you can learn more at Alessandra Belloni’s official website.
My colleague, Dr. Tim Eberhart, is offering a summer course that I wish I could take! Regenerative Mission & Ministry: Ecological Practices for Land Repair is a 7-week course for those seeking to integrate eco-theological reflection, earth-based spiritual wisdoms, and regenerative design principles for land repair. Participants will journey as a community of learners through a cultivated curriculum that incorporates selected readings, video instruction, ecological practices, and more aimed at healing social and ecological relations for the sake of mutual flourishing. It starts on June 3, so sign up soon if you’re interested!
The University of Victoria (UVic) offers an online course, A Meta-Relational Approach to AI. The course is designed for participants who are interested in thinking about AI in ways that challenge modernity’s extractive programming patterns in both humans and machines. The next cohort starts in NEXT WEEK. Registrations are open.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
Basically, what America is learning is that it has never truly been free and justice in America has never been true. If it were, it wouldn’t have been so easy to erase!!!
Those 6 Supreme Court Justices never believed in true justice or freedom for all……
I crossed the BRIDGE with you...your CANADIAN sister. Supreme Court take NOTICE - POWER without JUSTICE cannot survive forever.