When We Forget Who We Are
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“The truth is that all aspects of the current crisis reflect the same mistake: setting ourselves apart and using others for our gain.” — Joanna Macy
I have just returned from the most extraordinary spiritual expedition in the mountains of Wyoming—five days off-grid, on horseback, with a small group of brave, brilliant women. We shared stories beneath the stars, swam in glacial lakes, and let the wide mountain views stretch our souls. There was a kind of holiness in those days that reminded me what it feels like to be fully alive, fully present, and fully human.
And now, I return—we return—to a world still coming apart.
I came home to the not surprising news of escalating immigration enforcement, renewed ICE raids, and worsening conditions in the for-profit detention center many have come to know as “Alligator Alcatraz.”1 As I read about men being held for over a year without charges or legal access, my heart sank. But it was not only the cruelty of the system that struck me. It was the silence. The way so many people of faith—people who I know to be kind and generous—have numbed themselves to this suffering.
Some reassure themselves with myths. “These must be dangerous criminals,” they say. “We’re just enforcing the law.” But the facts tell another story. According to ICE records, more than 75% of people detained in the past year had no conviction beyond a traffic or immigration-related violation. Fewer than 10% were convicted of violent crimes.2 This isn’t about crime. It’s about control. And beneath that, about fear.
It’s tempting to believe that injustice is something we can compartmentalize—that we can look away without being changed. But we can’t. Every time we turn our gaze, we shrink our capacity for compassion. Every time we dehumanize another, we lose a little of our own humanity.
Buddhist teacher and elder, Joanna Macy, whose passing we mourn this week, named this pattern with spiritual clarity: “The truth is that all aspects of the current crisis reflect the same mistake: setting ourselves apart and using others for our gain.”3
That’s what we’re seeing unfold—not just in our immigration system, but across our political, environmental, and economic landscapes. A society built on separation is now unraveling under the weight of its own lies. At the heart of those lies is the refusal to recognize the sacredness of one another.
But we know better.
Our traditions—especially those rooted in the way of Jesus—are clear. “I was a stranger and you welcomed me,” he said. Not processed me. Not deported me. Welcomed me. Not because it was easy, but because it was right.
To welcome the stranger is not merely a spiritual suggestion—it is a moral imperative, not because the stranger is like us, but because we are like them. We, too, are wanderers. We, too, are made in the image of something holy. When we forget that, when we draw lines between “us” and “them,” we betray the very heart of the gospel.
And so today, I invite us to remember.
To remember who we are.
To remember what we’ve promised.
And to remember that any theology that forgets the vulnerable is not worthy of the name.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
When have you felt like a stranger—or been treated like one? What did you most need in that moment?
What assumptions have you inherited about who belongs and who doesn’t? Are those assumptions still serving your values?
What would it look like to practice hospitality not just as an act of kindness, but as a spiritual discipline of resistance?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer for the Stranger and the Silent
God of every border and every crossing, we come to you with aching hearts and tired souls. We confess that we have been silent when we should have spoken, comfortable when we should have been disturbed. We have turned away from suffering and convinced ourselves we were powerless. But you remind us: We are kin. We are capable. We are called. So today, soften our hearts. Widen our vision. Unsettle us where we have grown too settled. Help us remember that your presence is not found in power, but in the lives of the vulnerable, the detained, the disappeared. May we not look away. May we not grow numb. May we become, once again, people of courage, compassion, and conscience. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Standing in Solidarity
This week, choose one tangible way to stand in solidarity with immigrants and detainees. Here are a few possibilities:
Learn about immigrant rights organizations in your area. Follow their work. Consider donating or volunteering.
Contact your elected officials. Ask them to investigate detention centers and stop funding ICE raids.
Say the names of those who have been detained or deported in your prayer time. Hold their lives as sacred.
If you are part of a congregation, bring this issue forward. Organize a learning session. Share what is happening.
Whatever you choose, do it not as a performance, but as a practice of remembering. You belong to a larger body. When one part suffers, the whole body is called to respond.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
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!
October 23, 30, November 6, 13, 2025, 7pm ET - In Search of a New Story: Reimagining What Comes Next, A 4-Part Online Series with Matthew Fox, Cameron Trimble, and Special Guests. We are living through the unraveling of many old stories—about who we are, why we’re here, and how we are meant to live together on this Earth. As these inherited narratives collapse under the weight of climate crisis, social fragmentation, and spiritual disconnection, the question becomes clear: What story will guide us now? REGISTRATION OPENING SOON!
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/florida-immigration-alligator-alcatraz-8607894cc7bab9c17bce30fdf541f0bc
https://www.news247plus.com/news/career/The-majority-of-the-immigrants-detainees-by-ICE-in-the-USA-have-no-history-penalties-39758
Listen to Joanna Macy explore the three big stories we are telling ourselves.
You and Joanna Macy are right. The American people had better start standing up because every day that goes by without standing up, it will get worse. They is getting more emboldened by the silence. Soon, it will be too late to stand up….
So well said - struggling mightily with not “looking away” - Alison