By Bill Mefford
I don’t know about you, but I am still glowing from the powerful Women's March this past Saturday. I marched in DC with my closest 750,000 friends and boy did we have fun! It truly was a celebration as so many people in DC came out that we tripled the number that President Haman had at his inauguration (no matter how much he and his lackeys give “alternative facts!”). The Women's March occurred in more than 600 cities with millions marching and tweeting over 11.5 million tweets! There was almost a carnival feel to it as me, my wife Marti, and my mom were never able to get close enough to the stage to hear what was being said, but we walked around with the crowd, greeting one another, reading the incredibly powerful and funny signs, and having some really incredible conversations from people allover the U.S. and Canada! It was a memory I will always cherish.
But in addition to the entertainment value, I think many of us realize the seriousness of the challenges we face. donald trump and his uninformed and crony Cabinet pose as dangerous a challenge to justice, equality, and basic human dignity as we have ever seen in our lifetimes. The march on Saturday was, for so many of us, an act of worship; a public declaration of our allegiance to God's love for the world, especially for women. This was a chance to show President Haman and the whole world that our values are defined by the gospel of Jesus and not by his narcissistic, racist, misogynist, and twisted worldview. Thus, marching, protesting,advocating and organizing are acts of love. we stand alongside those targeted by the injustice of trump's and Republican policies and through our solidarity we are transformed. This is what RESISTANCE looks like. Indeed, this is what Christianity looks like.
And we must be ready to publicly proclaim our allegiance under an administration that has said they will operate by the new decree, “America First.” This new decree is an abomination to anyone who claims to faithfully follow Jesus. Simply put, you cannot faithfully follow Jesus and follow "America First." Thus, protesting this administration and their policies has become a vital aspect of our discipleship. There can be no sitting on the sidelines. While many “evangelicals” continue to stand alongside our Idolater-in-Chief, it only serves to signify evangelicalism’s death and the desperate need for people of faith to rise above left and right and to be, in the words of my friend Greg Leffel, out in front. We need new dreams, new connections, and definitely new leaders.
Saturday was a good start. We at Fig Tree Revolution want to keep it going. We want to help build a movement that truly brings about justice. We want to unleash local movements for the greater realization of love and compassion. Saturday picked us up, ignited and encouraged us, and will continue to spur us on. But we have work to do. One thing my wife Marti and I have started and will continue to do is to regularly invite friends over for “Engagement Parties” – times of talking about relevant issues and writing letters to our elected leaders urging them to take action (or stop taking action!). We don’t want to wait every ten years or so for some big event. We want to see change happen now! And all change, all social movements for justice start locally.
We want to make available excellent resources on our home page so regularly visit our page, especially things like our videos and our Resources to Resist. Sign up below for our emaillist and get our weekly collective. Let's work together togrow local movements for change.
Start with your congregation or local community or networks. Talk with them. Share your passion. Listen to theirs. When passions connect new dreams emerge and this is exactly how movements begin, how reality is changed, how injustice is pushed back, and how love prevails.
Walk with us. Tell us what you are doing. Share your resources with us and use ours to share with others. Let Saturday be a beginning of a glorious adventure. Let the Fig Tree Revolution happen and let the Kingdom come.
Enjoy below the pictures from me and a few of my fellow revolutionaries in Los Angeles (Brenda Vaca), Durham (Katey Zeh), Des Moines (Lee Schott), Philadelphia (Lara Lahr), Seattle (Shalom Agtarap) and DC (me).
