Holding Our Humanity at the Edge
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines… yet I will rejoice in the Lord.” — Habakkuk 3:17–18
Yesterday, the world prepared for catastrophe.
The US president threatened the possible genocide of an entire people. He did not hold back in his words. He seemed willing to consider outcomes that should never be considered, especially by someone in power. For hours, no one knew if his words would turn into action. For hours, millions around the world feared the US might start a nuclear war.1
Then, just before the deadline, a ceasefire was announced. We are told it will last two weeks.2 It gives us enough time to catch our breath, but not enough to pretend this situation is normal.
We have to be honest about our current situation. This is more than just a period of political tension. We are living through a time when systems are failing. Institutions that once brought some stability, like government, international diplomacy, and economic systems, are not working as they used to. The standards that guided leaders seem meaningless. Indeed, the US President has proven to the world that he is unfit for office and should be removed. The safeguards are weaker than we thought.
This is what it feels like to live through collapse. Collapse does not happen all at once. It comes in waves. One system fails while another keeps going. Some norms vanish while others remain. People adjust as things change, often without fully realizing what is happening.
But sometimes, the truth becomes impossible to ignore. Yesterday was one of those times.
The biblical tradition does not protect us from seeing things clearly. It was shaped during times of upheaval, like exile, occupation, failed kings, and the loss of land and order. The prophets did not promise that everything would stay together. They spoke honestly about what was falling apart and asked people how to live faithfully in those times.
Jeremiah stood at the temple gates and warned that the things people trusted would not save them.3 Ezekiel wrote from exile, trying to understand a world where everything had fallen apart.4 Jesus was executed by a political system that kept order through violence.5
These stories are not far removed from us. They show what happens when systems break down and power turns dangerous.
Hannah Arendt wrote that “the sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be either good or evil.”6 She was talking about violence in bureaucracy, but her point applies more widely. Harm often spreads not just by intent, but by becoming normal, as people slowly accept things that once seemed unthinkable.
Dorothy Day said it more simply: “Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system.”7 She was not talking about just one government or one time. She was pointing out a pattern, how systems that exploit and exclude can become so familiar that people stop fighting them.
That is the real danger in times like these.
It is not just that leaders act recklessly or cruelly. The bigger risk is that the rest of us start to adjust. We explain it away. We go along with it. We tell ourselves this is just how things are now.
Our spiritual task is to resist getting used to it. It means seeing things clearly without looking away. It means naming harm for what it is. It means refusing to believe the lie that this is normal or acceptable. And it means staying grounded as we do this work.
We still have responsibilities. We speak out against what is wrong. We put pressure on those in power. We protest. We vote. These are not just symbolic gestures. They are how a society tries to fix itself, even when its systems are under strain.
But we also care for something deeper. We look after the quality of our own lives and relationships. We refuse to let fear decide how we treat each other. We stay connected to what is real and good, even when the bigger systems feel shaky.
This is where many people feel the strain most strongly.
It is exhausting to stay involved when the future is uncertain. It is hard to keep showing up when we do not know what will happen. It is tempting to pull back, to care only about what we can control.
There is wisdom in knowing our limits. But pulling back also comes with a cost.
Václav Havel wrote that hope is “not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”8 This kind of hope does not rely on quick results. It comes from a commitment to live by what is right, even when the future is unclear.
This is the kind of steadiness we need right now.
The ceasefire gives us a short break. It does not fix the deeper problems. It does not repair the systems that are failing. It does not promise what will happen next. But it gives us time to choose how we will live right now.
Collapse is not just about what is breaking down. It is also about what is being born. It shows us the limits of the systems we trusted. It shows the character of our leaders. Most importantly, it shows who we are becoming in response.
We cannot control how global events unfold. But we can choose to stay clear, grounded, and committed to the work that is ours.
That is no small thing.
That is how we shape the future, even now.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Where do you see evidence that systems are not holding in the ways they once did?
What are you tempted to normalize that you know, deep down, should not be accepted?
What practices help you remain grounded and engaged at the same time?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer for Steadiness in Collapse
God of truth, You who remain when everything else is shaken, steady us now. Give us clear eyes to see what is breaking, and the courage to name it without fear. Guard us from becoming numb or indifferent. Strengthen us to act where we can, and to remain faithful where we must wait. Hold us in a hope that does not depend on outcomes, but on the integrity of how we live. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Refusing Normalization
Today, notice one thing that has become normalized that you know is not right. Name it clearly, even if only to yourself. Then take one step that interrupts that normalization.
Speak about it with someone you trust.
Write to a leader.
Support an organization resisting it.
Or simply refuse to participate in it where you have a choice.
This is how we remain awake.
This is how we live with integrity when systems fail.
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.
NEW!!! April 14, 2026, 11am ET - FREE WEBINAR - I will be joined by Rev. Shawna Bowman, an amazing artist and pastor of Friendship Presbyterian Church, for a conversation about art as resistance and what it means to show up as a creative individual in a world in need of justice. Shawna will be leading a community of practice starting in April on the Commons. If you want to learn more, register here.
NEW!!! On July 19-24, 2026, I’ll be leading a Women’s Wellness Retreat in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming, and I’d love to extend the invitation to you. We’ll spend five days off the grid, riding horses through wide open landscapes, sharing meals, and creating space to slow down enough to hear ourselves think again. This retreat is about returning to yourself, settling your nervous system, letting go of what you’ve been carrying, and getting clearer about what matters now. The group will be small (no more than 10 women), and we’ll move at a steady, spacious pace, with plenty of room for both conversation and quiet. I hope you’ll consider joining 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.
The Convergence Music Project has scheduled the fall conference on October 7-10, 2026 in Louisville, Kentucky. We will sing new community songs created specifically for this time in our history and explore together how the songs we sing in worship (and beyond) can empower and encourage us as we live out the biblical call to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.” Learn more here.
A group of faith leaders joined MPR News host Angela Davis for a North Star Journey Live event at our studios in downtown St. Paul on Thursday, March 26, to talk about what they experienced on the front lines of the immigration enforcement surge and how their faith both compelled and comforted them. Listen here.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
Jan, Farah N.. “US military action in Iran risks igniting global nuclear cascade.” Military Times, January 29, 2026. https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2026/01/30/us-military-action-in-iran-risks-igniting-global-nuclear-cascade/
“U.S. AND IRAN AGREE TO 2-WEEK CEASEFIRE.” Axios, April 6, 2026. https://www.axios.com/2026/04/07/iran-2-week-ceasfire-trump-pakistan
Jeremiah 7:1–15 (Temple sermon)
Ezekiel 1–3 (exilic prophetic call)
Mark 15 / John 19 (crucifixion under Rome)
Arendt, Hannah. The Life of the Mind, Vol. 1: Thinking (1978), p. 180
Day, Dorothy. The Catholic Worker, May 1946
Havel, Václav. Disturbing the Peace. Chapter 5: The Politics of Hope, 1986.
In the USA...
standards defied, safeguards weak,
“systems are failing.”
...
Living through collapse...
adjust, accept, tolerate,
sigh, capitulate?
...
Living faithfully...
“stay clear, grounded, committed,”
steady, connected.
...
Something is being born...
“speak out, put pressure, protest,”
choose our becoming.
It’s really hard to make a comment, however, until the American People stand up and do something, nothing will happen until Trump’s next venture. He, his family, his Reich and the billionaires will, however, make billions in the next two weeks while America sink deeper into debt….