Resisting the Spectacle
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.” - Isaiah 58:12
The Trump Administration has now federalized 4,000 California National Guard troops under Title 10 authority, claiming an “insurrection” was erupting in Los Angeles. It’s the first no-consent Guard activation in nearly sixty years. Governor Gavin Newsom called it “unlawful.” Mayor Karen Bass affirmed that Los Angeles was equipped to handle protest management without further escalation from the president, and said LAPD would not participate in deportations. The administration has now gone one step further, activating 700 US Marines to “protect federal assets.” The truth: none of this was not a response to chaos—it was the manufacture of it. It’s the fight Trump has been itching to stage since Inauguration Day.
This administration stages crises to justify its overreach. It weaponizes protest to feed the narrative it wants: that immigrants are dangerous, cities are ungovernable, and federal intervention is the only path to order. The cycle is cruelly predictable: provoke public outrage, amplify the most sensational responses through partisan media, then point to the unrest as proof that power must be consolidated.
This is the trap: protest becomes content, packaged and repurposed to justify repression. Acts of courage and solidarity are flattened into images of disorder. A rally becomes a threat. A flag becomes a provocation. An arrest becomes a symbol of “law and order.”
As historian Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes, “Authoritarianism depends on breaking the horizontal bonds of solidarity and empathy.”1 The goal is not just control of the streets—it’s control of the narrative. And that’s why our resistance must be more than reactive. It must be relational.
To protest effectively, we need to change the frequency. Escalating in ways that mirror the regime’s nervous system—fight, flight, dominance—only feeds the spectacle. But when we act from a different place—grounded, present, connected—we disrupt the performance from within.
Let’s be precise:
This moment asks something deeper of us—not to stop showing up—but to show up differently. We must move with grief, not just outrage. We should act with reverence, not just resistance. We can make visible a way of being that breaks the logic of fear and reasserts the possibility of belonging.
In the words of the prophet Isaiah: “You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.”
Let that be our role now—not to win the spectacle, but to refuse its terms, and instead live into a relational future, one courageous, clear act at a time.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
When I encounter injustice, what frequency do I tend to respond with—reaction or presence? How can I shift that?
In what ways might I be unintentionally reinforcing the spectacle? How can I become a source of relational disruption instead?
Where in my community are “horizontal bonds of solidarity and empathy” under pressure? What small act might repair one?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer for Discernment in Dangerous Times
God of justice and presence,
When the noise rises—
when fear is used as a tool,
and spectacle masquerades as truth—
help us to listen for what is real.
Remind us that resistance is not always loud.
Sometimes it is the quiet courage to stay soft
in a world that hardens everything.
Sometimes it is the refusal to abandon relationship
even when power demands it.
Steady us in our seeing.
Keep us from becoming mirrors of the systems we oppose.
And teach us to be interruptors of harm,
not just through protest, but through the kind of love
that refuses to disappear.
Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Resisting the Spectacle, Embodying the Real
Today, notice the moments when your nervous system is pulled toward urgency—especially in response to political news or social media. Pause before you share, comment, or react.
Ask yourself:
Am I mirroring the fear-based logic of the spectacle? Or am I grounded in presence?
Does this action reinforce separation? Or reassert our entanglement and shared dignity?
Then, practice a micro-act of relational disruption:
Reach out to someone who is being targeted—directly or systemically.
Write a note, deliver food, offer presence.
Join a collective action that centers care as much as critique.
We resist not by becoming louder, but by becoming truer—to each other, to the web of life, to the world we still believe is possible.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
June 14, 2025 - On June 14—Flag Day—No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance. From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like. Find a protest in your city HERE. I will be out there with you!
SOLD OUT!!! July 20-25, 2025 - The Art of Wilding: A 5-Day Expedition in Wyoming for Women Leaders. Click here to learn more.
August 11, 2025, 2pm ET - Dr. Andrew Root and I will be hosting a 6 part series on Spirituality in the Secular Age based on his research. The dates are August 11, 18, September 8, 15, and October 6, 13. Mark your calendars! More on this soon.
September 4, 4:30pm ET - I will be collaborating with the Anderson Forum for Progressive Theology to host a conversation with Thomas Jay Oord on Open and Relational theology. It’s a FREE event. Register here.
October 15-18, 2025 - Converging 2025: Sing Truth Conference (all musicians invited!) at Northwest Christian Church in Columbus, OH. Register here!
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.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
Thank you so much! This is so well said. what our president is doing makes me so very angry. How do I respond? You gave clear and oh so helpful advice. I belong to Christ first and I will respond in ways that honor him. But, I will not sit by!
The words of the prophet represent our calling in this time. Thank you for your prophetic words as well. I will be sharing!