What Kind of Strength?
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant.” — Matthew 20:25–26
Over the weekend, Donald Trump hosted a UFC fight at the White House. I wasn’t surprised. In fact, it almost seemed predictable. Even so, it’s still striking to see the White House become the setting for a cage fight.
The symbolism is clear. Hundreds showed up to watch two men enter a ring and try to overpower each other. The crowd cheered for dominance, aggression, and physical strength. The President sat by the ring with celebrities, influencers, and political allies.
I began to wonder how future historians will see that moment. Every society has its own stories about strength. We share these stories through laws, monuments, and the people we choose to honor.
This weekend, we told that story through a fight. It reflects an idea of masculinity that has shaped much of human history.
The strong man.
The conqueror.
The warrior.
The one who wins.
The one who dominates.
The one who never backs down, never shows weakness, never admits uncertainty.
For thousands of years, empires have been built on this idea. Pharaoh ruled like this. Caesar did too. Kings, generals, colonial governors, dictators, slave holders, and oligarchs have all followed the same pattern. They believed strength comes from control, power from domination, and security from making others afraid.
What’s odd is that these stories often seem most powerful right before they fall apart.
I think about Pharaoh. The Exodus story is usually seen as a contest between a powerful ruler and enslaved people. But what kind of strength actually lasts? Pharaoh had armies. Pharaoh had wealth. Pharaoh had monuments that could be seen for miles. But the story remembers Moses because Moses showed a different kind of power.
You can see this pattern in many spiritual traditions. The Buddha leaves a palace. St. Francis leaves wealth. Rabia refuses status. The Hebrew prophets challenge kings. Time after time, the people we remember aren’t those who gathered the most power. They’re the ones who learned to live without it.
As I thought about the UFC fight, another scene came to mind. The night before his death, Jesus knelt on the floor and began washing his disciples’ feet.
The Roman world admired conquest. People celebrated military victories, public shows, and displays of dominance. Power flowed from the top down. The strong gave orders, and the weak followed.
Then Jesus kneels with a basin of water. He doesn’t defeat his enemies or call down angels. He doesn’t try to prove he’s better. He washes feet.
I think that’s one reason the story has lasted. It shows a kind of strength that empires can’t really understand: the ability to serve without shame, to love without owning, and to stand in truth without needing to dominate.
When I look at our world today, I sometimes feel the old story is running out of steam. The story that says power means wisdom, that domination brings security, and that masculinity requires control. People still believe it. It still fills arenas and wins elections. But it feels tired. It feels like something trying to convince itself it’s still alive.
The problems we face now can’t be solved by domination. Climate change, loneliness, political division, economic inequality, and spiritual confusion don’t respond to force. They require cooperation, humility, relationships, and care. These are the same qualities empires have often called weakness.
I suppose in the end this weekend isn’t really about a UFC fight. It’s really about two different ideas of what it means to be human. One is built around control. The other is built around connection. I think the future belongs to the latter.
But history shows we might have to watch the first idea wear itself out before more people notice.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
When you think about strength, who taught you what it means to be strong?
Which vision of power feels more compelling in this moment: domination or service? Why?
Where are you being invited to practice a different kind of strength in your own life?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer For A Different Kind of Strength
God, We have been taught to admire the loud voice, the clenched fist, the one who wins. Yet your wisdom often arrives differently. In a basin of water. In a servant’s hands. In the courage to tell the truth. In the willingness to love without control. Teach us to recognize strength where the world sees weakness. Teach us to honor humility without mistaking it for surrender. Teach us to carry power without being possessed by it. And when we are tempted by the spectacle of domination, turn our eyes toward the deeper work of becoming fully human. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Redefining Strength
Today, pay attention to the moments when strength appears.
Notice what images come to mind.
The executive making decisions.
The politician giving orders.
The athlete overpowering an opponent.
The person who seems to have control.
Then ask a second question: What examples of strength am I overlooking?
A parent caring for a sick child.
A friend telling the truth in a difficult conversation.
A neighbor showing up for someone in grief.
A person admitting they were wrong.
A community choosing cooperation over competition.
Before bed, write down three examples of strength you witnessed today that would never appear on television.
Sit with the list.
Notice what kind of future those forms of strength might create.
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.
June 18, 24, 2026, 12:30pm ET - I will be joining Jackie Sussman on The Commons for a three-part series on practicing eidetics as a part of our “Reclaiming the Power of Imagination” series. 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 these sessions, she will lead a live Eidetic process shaped by mythic imagery, offering a direct experience of the work. REGISTER HERE.
June 16, 2026, 12:30-1:30pmET - Book Club in The Commons - FREE - We are starting our next book, The Glorians by Terry Tempest Williams. We will meet each Tuesday for 6 weeks. It’s such great fun. I hope you will be a part. All are welcome! RSVP HERE.
September 8, 2026, 7-9pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - I’ll be hosting a powerful online gathering on The Black Madonna: Sacred Wisdom for a World in Crisis with Matthew Fox, Alessandra Belloni, and Christena Cleveland. We will explore the Black Madonna as a symbol of resilience, liberation, sacred feminine wisdom, and healing in a fractured world through conversation, story, music, and spiritual reflection. If you feel drawn toward a deeper encounter with the Divine Feminine and the ancient traditions that continue to nourish movements for justice and wholeness, I hope you’ll join us. Learn more and 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.
June 15, 2026, 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.
June 16, 2026, 12pm ET - My friends at the Franciscan Federation are launching a new online community called “The Piazza.” This is a place for all Franciscan-hearted people to gather, connect with one another and build community together. They are launching the community on June 16. I hope you can be a part of their launch event. I will be there, for sure!
June 20, 2026 – ONLINE EVENT – Margaret Wheatley and Mary Daniels will lead a special three-hour online gathering titled Fierce Compassion: The Power of the Sacred Feminine. In a time marked by fragmentation, fear, and exhaustion, this program explores compassion not as passive kindness, but as a courageous force that protects life, tells the truth, and remains deeply rooted in love. Drawing from spiritual traditions, contemplative practice, and the imagery of fierce feminine wisdom figures such as Kali and Durga, they will reflect on what it means to stay human and spiritually grounded in difficult times. LEARN MORE + REGISTER.
JULY 12, 2026, 8AM–8PM ET in NYC - My friend Monika Son is helping lead a powerful Buddhist-led, interfaith pilgrimage across New York City titled “Day of Remembering Our Interdependence.” Inspired by the Buddhist monks’ 2,300-mile Walk for Peace and grounded in the wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh, participants will gather for walking meditation, prayer, chanting, ceremony, and collective reflection across all five boroughs, including stops at the African Burial Ground and the Metropolitan Detention Center where ICE detainees are being held. The day will culminate in a joyful community gathering in Queens with music, poetry, movement, and food. Participants are welcome to join for the full pilgrimage or any portion of the day. 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.
Thank you, once again, Rev. Cameron, for your wisdom and discernment.
A few days ago, I came across this last year's Christmas message from Brother David Steinl-Rast. I know you and your subscribers will appreciate it. It gives rise to the long view:
+ My dear Relatives and Friends,
On the night of December 7th to 8th this year, I had an unusual dream: I was writing down a short Christmas story. It was dictated to me in my dream, but I considered each word so carefully while writing it down that it had remained clear in my memory when I woke up.
Once upon a time, a cobbler and his wife were working at making shoes. God had not given them children of their own, but they had learned to cut the leather so skillfully that with every pair of shoes they made to order, they could make a small pair on the side for a poor child. As they were working together, they used to sing:
Father of us all, we pray
As we make these shoes today:
Nowhere on this earth let go
Children barefoot in the snow.
But no matter how hard they worked, there seemed to be more and more poor children in our world. With heavy hearts the cobbler and his wife used to work until late in the night, but the help they were able to offer seemed like a drop on a hot stone.
It was the holy night of Christmas, but in their sadness the two old people were not aware of it, still sewing on a small pair of shoes. Suddenly a golden light filled the workshop and a barefoot little boy came in. He took the cobbler’s wife by one hand and the cobbler by the other and led them out into the snow behind the house. Wherever he went, Christmas Roses raised their heads in his tracks, and he said with a voice like a wind-bell:
Go now and rest.
God knows best.
My reaction to this dream surprised even me. Still half asleep, I was angry and railed against "this sentimental distraction from the world's needs." I woke up disturbed. Since then, however, I've begun to ask myself: Once we, with our limited minds, have generously exhausted our abilities to patch up our poor world, may we not trust that the Great Mind that, out of sheer possibility, makes Christmas Roses bloom, knows possibilities for our future that far surpass our current imagination? May this thought give us inner peace throughout 2026 and at the same time spur us on to double our efforts in working together for outer peace. This is my fierce wish.
Your Brother David
I found your words about power and domination not being able to solve the problems we face today an important framing for our future. Our problems are larger than the finite game where the rules as set and there can only be one winner and one loser. Whether it’s climate change, loneliness or the myriad affronts to our humanity, ours is a larger game, more infinite in nature, one where the goal is to be there another day and keep playing and serving those who need our help.