When the Watchtowers Are Empty
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” — Matthew 22:36-40 (NRSV)
“Americans are losing a vast array of people and programs dedicated to keeping them healthy. Gone are specialists who were confronting a measles outbreak in Ohio, workers who drove a van to schools in North Carolina to offer vaccinations and a program that provided free tests to sick people in Tennessee... State and local health departments responsible for invisible but critical work... are being hollowed out.”
— Laura Ungar & Michelle R. Smith, AP News1
I read those words in an article over the weekend and felt such sadness for all of us.
It’s not just the facts that hit me—it is the faces I imagined behind them. I grieve for the children who won’t receive needed vaccines. I feel the anxiety of parents without answers when illness strikes. I see the heartbreak of health workers laid off, knowing their absence could cost lives. That van in North Carolina? It didn’t just deliver vaccines—it delivered peace of mind. That program in Tennessee? It meant someone could go to sleep without wondering if their cough was something worse.
We are watching “common good compassion” unravel, strand by strand.
What once served all of us quietly, faithfully—public health teams inspecting restaurants, testing wastewater, catching outbreaks before they grow—now falls to “cutting waste, fraud and abuse” and ideological disdain, not because the need disappeared, but because care for the common good has been deemed expendable by this US administration.
Can you believe it’s come to this?
These are terrible, cruel policies. But the fact that they are being instituted by national leaders who proudly call themselves Christians invites a special form of rage from me.
Scripture doesn’t pull punches. Jesus’ teaching on the greatest commandments says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’2 Proverbs says, “Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him,”3 and goes on to say, “Do not rob the poor because they are poor or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.” John, the Apostle, said, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.”4 The Gospel of Luke has Jesus teaching, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”5
I could go on and on with scriptures because if there is ONE topic that our sacred texts teach about more than any other, it’s how we treat one another, especially the most vulnerable among us.
The foundations of the Sacred world order are violated when people in power turn against the poor. I believe God weeps, too, when public systems of care—designed to protect life—are gutted while the powerful profit.
I suspect none of us wants to live in countries where care is a luxury and public trust is optional. We want to live in nations that remember we belong to one another.
Maybe that begins right here, with the heartbreak. With feeling it fully. With letting it call us—not to despair, but to holy resistance. Not to apathy, but to advocacy. Because when the watchtowers are empty, someone has to ring the bell.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Where have you experienced care—quiet, faithful, often invisible—that you may have taken for granted?
What breaks your heart most about the dismantling of public systems of care—and how might that heartbreak guide your next faithful action?
A Prayer for the Day
For the Ones Who Keep Watch
Holy One,
When the systems meant to protect us begin to crumble,
when the quiet work of healing is silenced by politics,
when compassion is traded for cruelty—
we feel the breaking in our own bodies.
We remember the parents who worry, the children who go without,
the healers who grieve their dismissal not for their own sake
but because they know what will be lost.
Let us not look away.
Keep our hearts tender, our spirits attuned.
Teach us to mourn what is being dismantled
and to rebuild, even in small ways,
what love would have us restore.
Amen.
Spiritual Practice
A Circle of Care
This week, take a moment to map your own circle of care— not just your personal health, but the systems and people who help hold you in wellness:
…the nurse who checks in without judgment,
…the sanitation crew who keeps your water clean,
…the pharmacist who answers your late-night question,
…the public educator who teaches health literacy.
Name them. Write them down.
Now ask: What happens when they are gone?
And what role might you play—not in saving the whole system, but in honoring, supporting, and advocating for the care that sustains your neighbors?
Maybe it’s a note of thanks.
Maybe it’s a donation to your local health department.
Maybe it’s showing up at a town hall, or simply learning the names behind the work.
We cannot do everything. But we must do something. Because care is never truly lost—it moves through those who remember, who rise, and who act.
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 “In the Midst of Doom: Facing Our Moment and Finding Our Way” 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 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!
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.
https://apnews.com/article/public-health-measles-rfk-maha-trump-d863f53a5d370413de8d165d5ab96e65
Matthew 22:36-40
Proverbs 14:31 and Proverbs 22:22-23
1 John 3:17-18
Luke 3:11
Thanks especially for the spiritual reflection. All your thoughts are so welcome!
Thank you! This resonates with my broken heart as I’ve seen the erosion of the common good. I appreciate your words and your heart.