Readers beware: This column repeats some themes from previous columns — intentionally. We are living in dangerous times. Some themes warrant repeating.
Memorial Day, now fast approaching, marks the beginning of summer and, for some, more free time, maybe a vacation, maybe a trip away. The hallmarks of summer have already begun with graduations, family reunions and weddings filling our calendars.
Rest is a good thing. I am in favor of rest, celebrations, gatherings, trips and vacations. My only word of caution is to not let our guard down as we walk the beach on Cape Cod or eat fried clams in Maine.
We are now 18 months into the Trump presidency and we are weary. As summer approaches, it will be tempting to take a big vacation from our work in the resistance — to ease off all the organizing we have been doing since Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote. Let’s not let that happen.
Not only are we tired from all the work we have been doing to resist the attacks on democracy and sanity since Trump moved into the Oval Office, but we are looking for good reasons and excuses to step back, ease off, even give up. We are weary on many levels.
Pundits writing in various media outlets and bloggers filling cyberspace are telling us often that progressive Americans are suffering from Trump-fatigue, Tweet-fatigue, scandal-fatigue, crisis-fatigue, lies-fatigue, fake news-fatigue and chaos-fatigue.
Months ago we were stunned and incredulous when yet another horrendous story leaked out of the White House. hat sense of being shocked has turned to resignation. We are no longer shocked by what should be shocking. We have become accustomed to things we should not adapt to. We have ho-hum responses to news that should make our jaws drop. We are quietly acting like the continuing mess in Washington is normal.
It is not normal.
Like some folks reading this column, I am going away this summer. And I look forward to the break. And like some of you, I have been exhausted by the Trump administration and need to refuel and recharge. I need to reignite my outrage.
But even though vacation lies just around the corner, I am reminding myself to keep stirring up good trouble — to write letters, make calls to elected officials, give money to progressive candidates, keep my eye on upcoming elections, talk to anyone who will listen and march wherever and whenever a march is nearby. Even while refueling, we cannot roll over and play dead. The stakes are too high.
As a pastor, I have often heard my colleagues repeat a well-worn phrase about our preaching: Pastors always preach the sermon they need to hear. Today I am writing the column I need to read.
We must keep up the resistance this summer and not be lulled into quiet submission by the lapping of waves on the shore or a round of drinks with friends on the back deck.
Yes, enjoy the beauty and joy of that wedding you are attending next week. But, maybe instead of giving the happy couple a blender, gift them with a donation in their names to Bob Massie or Elizabeth Warren, or the candidate of your choice.
Maybe while packing your flip-flops and folding beach chair, you also pack your BLACK LIVES MATTER poster and join in the July 4th parade wherever you may be.
Maybe when visiting your relatives in Ohio, Missouri or Texas, you find out if there is a progressive candidate for whom you can do door-knocking or a literature drop some afternoon.
I am not trying to ruin our summers. I am trying to make sure we do not become so complacent, numb, and apathetic that we give the Trump administration a pass while we eat lemon gelato at an outdoor café and act like everything is right with the world.
Let’s keep up the fight, even as we refuel. I know I have said this before. I warned you. But some things bear repeating.
The Rev. Dr. Andrea Ayvazian, of Northampton, is part of the ministerial team of the Alden Baptist Church in Springfield. She is the founder and director of the Sojourner Truth School for Social Change Leadership, which offers free movement-building classes from Greenfield to Springfield. She writes a monthly column on the intersection of faith, culture, and politics, and can be reached at opinion@gazettenet.com.