Hope Makes Another Appearance

People do not stay silent

On Saturday we celebrated No Kings Day all over the United States. People in rural communities, small towns and big and little cities poured out to rally and march, to say No! To say We will not be complicit with evil. I am so proud of us. Ordinary people turned out to say We have had enough in public, despite the threat of being set upon by our own military. We are too many to be ignored. All over this country, we have stood up for what is right. We stood up for goodness and love, for human rights, justice, our beautiful earth, the arts, education, health care, everyday generosity and kindness, and so much more. It was a beautiful thing and it gives me hope.

I would love to see No Kings Day become an annual holiday—a celebration of ordinary people, the goodness of free speech and creativity, the power of people to stand up against tyranny. My hope is that these gatherings, rallies, and marches will continue to grow and inspire us all to do more. Maybe No Kings Day will be remembered in history as the day in 2025 that Americans turned the tide on tyranny. Stranger things have happened . . .

What is the more that can we do? Well, we can support non-profits, write letters, speak up, give a few dollars to a homeless person, volunteer somewhere, offer help when needed and without being asked. I remember once hearing Deepak Chopra suggest that we ask, “How can I help?” whenever possible.

After the rally I gathered with friends to both celebrate a birthday and create mosaic stepping stones for their yard. The stones will make a path that celebrates, as she so eloquently put it, “our unbreakable friendship.” I struggled with my stone, being unused to working with glass and ceramic pieces that are hard and difficult to alter. I’m more of a paint, ink, paper and pencil kind of gal, more at home with things that I can make into a shape of my choosing.

Painting teachers often say that having constraints can enhance creativity. So maybe that is what we’re seeing in our society right now, when regular people make diabolically funny or clever signs and hold them up at rallies; when drag queens elicit cheers at the Kennedy Center while the president is booed; when writers, poets, and musicians are inspired to express their sorrow and chagrin in beautiful ways; when late-night comics hit their stride in response to the news.

Yeah. We shall overcome. Or, to quote a rally sign, “We shall overcomb.”

“You cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings. A leader who mocks the weak, exalts himself, and preys on the innocent is not sent by God. He is sent to test you. And many are failing.” - Pope Leo XIV

“In every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the People.” - Eugene Victor Debs

“Power-lust is a weed that grows only in the vacant lots of an abandoned mind. ” - Ayn Rand

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Thanks for listening,
Kay

P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the "merry thoughts."