“The Gospel takes away our right forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.” — Dorothy Day, The Catholic Worker, February 1946
The Trump Administration named it the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,1 which was a clever choice. Long before anyone could read through the hundreds of pages of tax and spending details, we were already told how to feel about it.
Big.
Beautiful.
Now, the details hidden in the fine print are starting to affect people’s lives. It isn’t beautiful.
Changes to SNAP are making it harder for people to get food assistance.2 Medicaid changes will eventually mean millions fewer people are covered. Health insurance will cost more for many families. New work requirements and eligibility rules will force people to keep proving they deserve benefits they once already qualified for.3
We knew a lot of this before the law passed. The Congressional Budget Office predicted that households with lower incomes would lose resources, while those in the middle and at the top would gain. They also projected $211 billion less federal spending on food assistance by 2035 and $1.2 trillion less on Medicaid, with 13.1 million fewer people on Medicaid by then.
So let’s stop acting as if the suffering we’re seeing now is just an unlucky surprise. It was always part of the plan.
This is where we need to be clear about what’s right. A hungry person is not just an idea. Someone with diabetes who can’t afford insulin is not just a line in the budget. A parent choosing between groceries and a medical bill is not just a matter of efficiency.
When the government chooses policies that make it harder for people with less money to get food and health care, while giving more to those who already have more, people of faith and conscience should ask if we’ve lost sight of care for the common good.
Work requirements need a closer look because they sound reasonable. Most of us agree that people should work. Work can give dignity, purpose, community, and the means to live. But many people who get public benefits already have jobs. Others care for children or elderly parents. Some are sick or have disabilities. Some live where it’s hard to find steady work. And the systems for proving eligibility require paperwork, reports, and dealing with complicated bureaucracies.
The CBO found that SNAP work requirements did not increase employment much, but they did cut benefits more than they raised earnings. For Medicaid, past work requirements didn’t do much to boost employment either. The CBO also found that some people with jobs lose benefits just because they miss paperwork.4
Bureaucracy can make cruelty look clean.
Nobody has to say, “Take food away from this person.” The system says: Documentation incomplete.
Nobody has to say, “Let this person go without health care.” The letter says: Eligibility terminated.
Responsibility is abdicated through forms, deadlines, computer systems, and case files. Then we tell ourselves that no one chose this outcome. But someone did create these rules.
An ancient spiritual temptation hides here: dividing human beings into those who deserve compassion and those who do not.
Poor people have faced this kind of judgment for centuries. If you’re hungry, you have to prove you tried hard enough. If you’re sick, you must show you couldn’t have prevented it. If you need help, you have to prove you deserve it before getting any.
Dorothy Day rejected that whole way of thinking. Her Catholic Worker communities fed people simply because they were hungry. Anyone at the door didn’t have to prove they were worthy. Human dignity always came first. She wisely reflected: “The Gospel takes away our right forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.”5
That doesn’t mean the government has endless resources. Budgets require real choices. Taxes have effects. Programs should be checked for how well they work. Fraud needs to be dealt with.
But this law challenges the idea that America just can’t afford to help vulnerable people. The same law that cut future spending on Medicaid and SNAP also lowered taxes for the wealthy in ways that add shocking sums to the federal deficit. The CBO found that resources go down for those at the bottom and up for those higher on the income scale.
No unavoidable shortage forced these decisions. We decided who would bear the cost. That’s the real moral issue. A society shows its values not just by what it celebrates, but by whose suffering it is willing to accept.
In the coming months, we’ll hear stories about people losing food assistance, health coverage, and access to care. There may be so many stories that it becomes hard to pay attention to them all.
Don’t let that happen. See the person. Listen to their story. Notice who is paying the price. Then ask the question that spiritual traditions have always asked of every empire, government, congregation, and human heart:
Who is being asked to suffer so that someone else can have more?
The answer will reveal a lot about who we are now, and whether we’re willing to change.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
When you hear that someone needs public assistance, what assumptions do you make about why they need it or whether they deserve it?
Where do you see suffering hidden behind bureaucratic language, statistics, or claims of economic necessity?
Who is being asked to bear the cost of the choices our society is making, and what responsibility do you have toward them?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer: When There Is Enough
Holy One, There is enough. Enough food to feed the hungry. Enough medicine to tend the sick. Enough wealth to shelter the vulnerable. Enough abundance for every child to flourish. What we lack is not enough. What we lack is the courage to share. Forgive us when we hide our choices behind numbers and forms, when we call hunger efficiency and abandonment discipline. Keep before us the faces our policies would make invisible. The child who is hungry. The elder who needs medicine. The parent doing the impossible math of rent, groceries, and care. Break open whatever in us has learned to tolerate their suffering. Give us hearts tender enough to care and courage strong enough to act. May our common life become an expression of our common humanity. Amen.
Spiritual Practice: Follow The Cut
Pick a part of the law that impacts people in your community. Start by learning about it, not by forming an opinion. Keep going until you meet someone affected.
If you focus on SNAP, visit your local food bank and ask staff how changing eligibility rules might affect them. If you look at Medicaid, find out which hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, or health centers in your area rely on Medicaid payments. If you are part of a congregation, ask if people are already coming for help with food, medicine, insurance, or medical bills.
Take time to listen before you decide how to help. After listening, respond to a real need you discover. You could donate to a food pantry, help someone with an application, support a local health clinic, call your elected official about what you learned, or ask your congregation if its fund is ready to help more people.
The goal is not to use charity instead of public policy. A food pantry cannot take the place of SNAP, and a church fund cannot replace health insurance.
The aim is to bring policy and people closer together.
Large systems make suffering easier to tolerate when we never have to see who bears the cost. So follow the cut. Find the person. Learn their name if they want to share it. Listen to how the policy feels from their point of view.
Then ask yourself what love calls you to do.
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.
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.
September 17, 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.
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.
Become more comfortable talking to others about creation care and more confident acting on solutions. Join Blessed Tomorrow + Faith Training on 9/26. Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/fBrgjj76QemIfWeSP2bJRQ
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
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.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text
https://abcnews.com/US/millions-dropped-fromsnapfood-assistance-funding-faces-september-uncertainty/story?id=136386092
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/aca-medicare-work-health-insurance-cost-rise-2027-rcna597069
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/62105?
Dorothy Day, “Poverty and Precarity,” The Catholic Worker, February 1946.
The cruelty was there all along.
It’s part of the DNA of our country
I watched Jimmy Kimmel interview James Talarico the other day and I think his bumper sticker referencing Jesus' table flipping is spot on. https://youtu.be/WLDE9LrGpNk