The Conversations We Are Missing
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” — Mark 4:9
Yesterday, while walking through the airport, I noticed something curious. All around me, people seemed to be talking to themselves. Most were on their phones, earbuds tucked discreetly into their ears. But others were having full, animated conversations with no one in sight. Passersby ignored them, caught up in their own worlds. I couldn’t look away.
It struck me that this scene feels like a parable for how many of us are navigating this moment in history. We’re absorbed in our own narratives—tethered to news feeds, group chats, and social media bubbles. Some of us are speaking only to a small, trusted circle. Others are processing the chaos alone, like murmured prayers into the void.
But here’s the thing: while private reflection has its place, what we need now more than ever is connection—the kind that happens in real life, face-to-face, heart-to-heart. The world is shifting rapidly beneath our feet. We are seeing rights rolled back, fear weaponized, and division deepened. In times like these, isolation leaves us vulnerable. Solidarity, on the other hand, gives us strength.
The great spiritual traditions remind us that awakening isn’t just an inward journey—it’s a communal one. The Buddha taught that the sangha, the community of practice, is as essential as the path itself. Jesus didn’t walk alone; he gathered disciples, ate with outcasts, and sent followers out in pairs. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks once said, “The world we build tomorrow is born in the stories we tell each other today.” What stories are we sharing? And with whom?
We can’t afford to sleepwalk through this moment, mumbling to ourselves while the world burns. We need to lift our heads, make eye contact, and start talking to each other again. Not just about politics, but about what kind of world we want to build, how we can show up for one another, and what it means to be truly awake.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
In what ways have you found yourself disconnected from the people and world around you?
Who in your life might need a conversation rooted in care, curiosity, or solidarity right now?
How can you create more space for real, face-to-face connection in the coming days?
A Prayer for the Day
Awakening to Connection
Holy One, awaken us from the slumber of isolation.
Turn our murmured anxieties into shared conversations.
Help us to see, really see, the people around us—
To listen with open hearts,
To speak with courage and kindness,
To find strength in community and hope in connection.
May we not miss the sacred conversations waiting in our midst.
Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Reach Out and Reconnect
This week, challenge yourself to step outside the bubble.
Call someone you’ve been meaning to check on. Invite a neighbor for coffee. Attend a community gathering, not just to be present but to engage.
If you find yourself retreating into private worry or endless doom-scrolling, pause. Look around.
Who might be longing for connection, just like you? Start there. Speak. Listen. Be present. In doing so, you’ll not only break the spell of isolation—you’ll help someone else do the same.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
February 27, 2025, 12-1:30pm - Margaret Wheatley and I are offering a 4 or 8-session course called “Are We Made for These Times?” If you know Meg’s work, it’s going to be extraordinary. If you want the deep dive, the 8-session course is for you. You can read about the shorter 4-session course here. Scholarships are available. I sooooo hope you can be a part of this!
March 4, 11, 18, 25 2025, 7-8:30pm - Dr. Matthew Fox and I are scheming a Lenten series that we are calling “From Darkness to Dawn: Spiritual Courage and Political Action in the Age of MAGA.” Modern mystic, Mirabai Starr, will be our guest on March 4! Andrew Harvey on March 11! The amazing Bishop Yvette Flunder on March 18! Father Adam Bucko on March 25! REGISTER HERE!
April 1, 2025 - Rabbi Benjamin Ross and I are collaborating on a new leadership program called “All Together Now: A Collaborative Cohort for Jewish Congregational Leadership Teams.” You can read about the program here.
July 20-25, 2025 - The Art of Wilding: A 5-Day Expedition in Wyoming for Women Leaders. Click here to learn more. Only one spot left!
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.
The Trump triumph is the result of a long, slow violence that is now bearing bitter fruit. Most of us have been lulled into a kind of numb participation in the atrocities of ecocide. What we consider normal is brutal. We have been converting a living world into dead machinery that now fully encloses us. There have been many prophets. They have all been despised and rejected. Collapse comes from corruption. And yet we enter the Kin-dom of Heaven in each moment of loving connection. This is our eternal life. We can choose loving connection in each moment until we breathe our last breath. I am grateful that we are invited into earth’s beloved community even now, after we have wounded her so terribly. I have chosen a life of poverty and humility, and I find this to be the most liberating and deeply rewarding path of all, even though it is precarious and has often been rough. Blessings on your mission to bring more and more
“conversations we are missing”.
I too have been struck by how connectedly isolated we are in this moment. I can speak to people in Australia and never even nod acknowledgement to my neighbour. And adversity can bring unity. Living as a small neighbouring country under threat, we are unifying in several wats. The church is known for radical solutions such as those in Acts 4. Time to get to work. Some observations from a northern neighbour. Rev. Scott Brown