The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz

I’d like to say I’m surprised, though that would be a lie. We all saw this coming for you (well, those of us not indoctrinated into a treasonous predator’s mindless death cult). Like Pam and Tulsi and Kristi, and countless women before, you were destined to find yourself here.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash We are now two years into the most openly corrupt, inept, and relentlessly predatory presidential administration in our nation’s history. We have watched an extremist minority commandeer Congress, the Justice Department, our Military, and the highest court in our nation, mounting an unprecedented repeal of the rights of women, of environmental protections, of voting rights, of elemental liberties.

Photo by Edward Cisneros on Unsplash Over the last ten years, self-identified followers of Jesus have almost singlehandedly destroyed all that was good and decent and beautiful in America by hitching themselves to a monster and refusing to let go, no matter how unrepentantly evil he has proven himself to be. I mean, think about it: If not for them, his vile Access Hollywood video confession of assault is a deal breaker in 2016.

Photo by Matteo Vistocco on Unsplash As I sat in a small cafe overlooking a sun-dappled Florentine piazza, that thought floated in with the evening breeze, bringing a protracted exhale that surprised me, as if I’d suddenly remembered how to breathe again. It had taken me nearly five full days away from America to begin to realize how very unwell I’d been, how physically and emotionally depleted the past eighteen months had left me, and most alarming of all—how normal that exhaustion had become.

Recently, I was on a Zoom call with some of my Substack subscribers. We were processing the state of our nation, which we all agreed was somewhere between sky-is-falling and Armageddon.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash So began the tearful confession of a middle-aged woman who approached me after an event in Lincoln, Nebraska. She paused for a second, exhaled loudly, and then continued, her voice shaking: “I’m ashamed to say that I find myself wishing these terrible people would just... disappear, so that they can’t hurt us anymore.” She said, “I just feel like I’m waiting for them to get old and die off.

From his vantage point, some thousands of miles away, he couldn’t understand exactly what was behind the seemingly daily campaigns calling for his head, blaming him for the pandemic, and inventing all manner of supposed smoking gun “evidence” that within a few hours always proves to be nothing but manufactured myths and curated conspiracy that soon dissolve in the raking light of the smallest bit of scrutiny.

Photo by Ash Hayes on Unsplash I’m not referring to the systemic collapse of our Republic or the slow suffocation of Democracy here, though these are certainly not unlikely outcomes at this point. This is far deeper than the seats of power or a congressional alignment, more than the structural implosion of this nation. The greatest, most grievous failure of America in this moment isn’t legislative but moral. The soul of this place is dying in screams and silences.

Upgrade to paid to play voiceover It will be another hollow procession of fervent disciples of a felon-predator who have again spent the past week applauding the abuse and degradation of the poorest and most vulnerable among us. They will proudly carry their Bibles, while evangelizing for a man, a party, and a movement that are antithetical to its contents regarding what it means to love people as God does.

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash OK, it’s probably not particularly healthy to have a grievance with an entire species, so let me narrow that down a bit… I’m angry with everyone who isn’t angry. I’m having a really hard time with the unbothered people, the “everything is gonna be fine” people, the people who are acting as though they are above those of us who are blowing gaskets, breaking down, and freaking out.