When the Ledger Burns
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” — Isaiah 43:19
There are days—maybe today is one—when the world feels like it’s unraveling faster than we can respond. The systems we once trusted for order, safety, and meaning—governments, institutions, procedural norms, even long-held social contracts—are crumbling. Worse, they are being weaponized against the very people they were supposed to protect.
Many in our communities have known this betrayal for generations. But for some—especially those of us with historic privilege—this erosion feels newer, more shocking. There’s a sense of paralysis, a weight in the chest, a helplessness when facing change that seems too big, too fast, and too cruel.1
But what if this paralysis is not simply fear or grief? What if it is also withdrawal—a spiritual and emotional detox from the false promises of modernity?
Modernity told us that if we played by the rules, contributed productively, and kept our side of the social contract, the ledger would stay balanced. We’d be safe. Respected. Protected. But the ledger is burning. What’s being revealed is that it never worked for all of us. It was never built to hold everyone equally.
This is not just collapse. It is disclosure. It reveals systems that were never just, never sustainable, and never sacred. In that revealing, a strange and holy invitation emerges:
To stop seeking protection, fairness, or healing from systems that were never designed to care for us.
To stop bargaining with systems that cannot love us or the planet.
To start growing capacities in ourselves that cannot be outsourced or co-opted.
In the Jewish tradition, the creation story begins not with order but with tohu va’vohu—a formless, swirling chaos.2 Before light and land, before sky and stars, there is only the wild, undifferentiated deep. It is there, in the chaos, that God speaks new life into being. Rabbi Arthur Green teaches that tohu va’vohu is not to be feared, but to be revered as holy raw potential.3 Perhaps what we are witnessing now is not just the end of what was, but the beginning of something truer than we’ve yet known.
What if this moment is asking us not to fix the old machine, but to compost it into regenerative soil? Perhaps the invitation is to tend the decay and let it feed something more just, more beautiful, more alive?
To do so, we will need specific capacities like…
Emotional sobriety—to feel what is real without running or numbing.
Relational maturity—to choose interdependence over dominance.
Interspecies accountability—to live as kin among the more-than-human world.
Spiritual clarity—to see collapse not as failure, but as sacred disillusionment.
The burning of the ledger is not the end of the story.
It may be the moment we stop measuring worth in credits and start practicing love without condition.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
What systems or beliefs have you trusted in the past that now feel like they’re collapsing?
What new capacities are being invited to emerge in you through this disorientation?
Where might you be experiencing not just fear, but withdrawal from unsustainable ways of being?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer for When the Old World Falls Apart
Holy One,
We confess we are frightened.
We built lives on ledgers and contracts, structures and systems, and we thought they would save us.
But the scaffolding is falling. The illusion is cracking. And we are disoriented.
Give us the courage not to grasp tighter, but to let go.
Not to demand comfort, but to seek clarity.
Not to repair the unsalvageable, but to compost what no longer gives life.
Grow in us the courage to feel what is real.
To stay present through the withdrawal.
To nurture in ourselves and in our communities the kinds of strength no empire can offer.
Make us soft enough to bend.
Strong enough to stand.
Brave enough to build again—not the old world, but the next faithful one.
Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Tending the Compost
Find a quiet moment today to reflect not just on what is breaking down around you—but on what is breaking down within you. Light a candle or step outside. Name aloud or write down the systems, identities, or assumptions you feel withdrawing from.
Then ask yourself gently:
What is dying in me that was never mine to carry?
What is decomposing that might one day nourish something new?
Let this become your prayer, not to rush the process, but to tend it—like compost, warm and messy and full of unseen transformation.
If you are able, share your reflection with someone you trust. Begin to build the kind of relationships that don’t rely on ledgers—but on love, reciprocity, and truth.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
NEW!!! On June 4, 2025, from 7-8pm ET, Join Brian McLaren, Matthew Fox and me for an exploration of “Life After Doom” inspired by Brian’s latest book. In an age of climate crisis, political unraveling, and societal collapse, many are asking: What now? What’s worth doing when the systems around us are failing? How do we find meaning beyond hope as we’ve known it? Join us and we will explore together. Register here.
June 4, 2025, 12pm ET - Jeff Chu has written a new book on a topic close to my heart: Soil! The title is “Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand.” I am so pleased to be interviewing him. Together, we’ll explore what it means to cultivate “good soil” in our lives, our communities, and our spiritual practices. I hope you will register. Your registration includes a copy of his new book.
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.
I was so saddened to see the ruling yesterday from the Supreme Court allowing the ban on transgender service people to stand while the case moves through appeal: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/06/nx-s1-5388507/supreme-court-transgender-military
https://www.thetorah.com/article/creating-order-from-tohu-and-bohu
https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300249989/judaism-for-the-world/
Yes, yes, yes! Climate change has been largely ignored recently because we have been caught up in the shorter term disasters affecting people's lives, right now. BUT: there is a reckoning coming...and the planet is trying to tell us to look toward something greater - a relationship of love and respect with all people AND other-than-humans. Thank you for your inspiring words each morning.
Thanks again for articulating a much needed reset…