Fifty years ago I was a college sophomore majoring in journalism and covering my expenses with a work-study job that paid $2.30 an hour. I’m not sure any of those things exist any longer except for college sophomores and, well, me. It was America’s Bicentennial, 1976, and we were, if not celebrating, at least recognizing our shared history. Streets filled, flags waved, bands marched, fireworks exploded. The war had ended and Nixon was gone. We had come through a terrible darkness. We couldn’t imagine how terrible a darkness could be.
I don’t believe that at age 20 I felt either pride or patriotism in my country. Those feelings would have been forced. What I felt was belonging. I had a place here, and I believed I would always have a place, a promise, a home and a future.
There are things we don’t need to say about who we no longer are.
But I will say them anyway. There may be many causes, many factors, and many failures that have led to this staggering point, but a single man embodies them all. A lone assassin, an enemy within, whose obscene greed and gluttony reveal his contrary purposes: to both possess and destroy everything. What was once home feels hollowed, hollowed of history, starved of promise, empty of decency and devoid of people. Very bad TV.
The irony, of course, is that he never felt he belonged. And in his rampage to take, and name, and own for himself what was once ours to share, he has guaranteed that he will never belong among us, he will never be free, he will never be brave. He will be a ghost, a shadow, a stain, a scratch on the marble, mold on the shower curtain, algae in the pool once built to reflect our better angels.
Photo credit: Reuters
Thinking you are alone is a terrible state to be in. Yesterday I read the sentence: “The son of God is blessed as one.”
It is not about one individual, it’s about us all together and being unaware of that is the poisoned chalice that he so eagerly drinks from.
I lived in the US as a child in the early 70’s and the thing that stayed with me was the gentle phrase “We can share.”
What also struck me when I was young was the vastness, the immeasurable unending size of my surroundings. It is like Tolle says: “Outside space is inside space.”
When you think you are alone this space is terrifying to behold, it feels hollow, but when you see it as a spiritual resource it is awe inspiring. To me that is what makes the US “the land of the brave and the home of the free”. The courage to take that vastness in unopposed.
Fret not Maezen, it is always darkest before the dawn. A new day is coming.
Comment by Simone — July 2, 2026 @ 1:09 am
Dear Maezen,
I understand your grief and despair. Dark and malevolent forces are at work.
But there is another force at work too. It is a force for good, for hope, for justice. I’m not talking about the future. It’s happening now.
Individuals, communities, cities, and entire states are quietly, and not-so quietly, taking care of each other and working to make things better right now.
People like Rob Hopkins, Eckhart Tolle, Parker J Palmer, Nguyễn Phương Lam, and Bruce Lipton see something new rising at the grassroots level. Look for them and take heart, dear friend.
Sending love and care.
Susan
Comment by Susan — July 2, 2026 @ 11:16 am
So very well exquisitely said. The last paragraph was especially comforting to me because it’s true but I’ve never heard it stated so well. Thank you so much.
Comment by Elizabeth — July 2, 2026 @ 4:53 pm
This is the lived, visible, tangible experience of Americans right now. It is not borne of fear, worry or despair, but is rather illuminated by wakefulness. Things are as they are, and no tonic alters the reality.
Comment by Karen Maezen Miller — July 3, 2026 @ 9:07 am