Soul Sick

What more can we do?

January 14, 2026 - When I was an adolescent, I thought my parents and most of the other adults were nuts to ignore world hunger. It amazed me that they could sit in church and listen to Jesus tell them to feed the hungry and not feed the hungry. Years later, lots and lots of years later, it is clear to me that Jesus has been marginalized into a life after death conductor. The teachings about compassion, food for the hungry, peace, welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick and imprisoned have all been written off as window dressing for the main event which is to get people into heaven. My late colleague the Rev. Jennifer Slade of the Greenville UU Fellowship said, “We’re not trying to get people into heaven. We’re building heaven on earth.”

But are we?

I ask the question as I read Heather Cox Richardson, especially her quote from the attorney general of Illinois about the lawlessness of ICE agents. I wonder about my occasional call to Thom Tillis’s office or my showing up for protests or my phone calls with dear friends as we wonder what else can we do. I see myself looking at my parents 60 years ago and wondering why they didn’t do more. Now I am the parent, grandparent, and supposed part of the power structure, but I feel compliant. I feel powerless.

For years the idea that our government is “of the people” has been said and written and repeated, but the people are being beaten, dragged from cars and at least in the case of Renee Good, shot through the open window of her car as it rolled slowly by.

When I first read the description of her killing, I hurt all over. When I spoke of the country we dream of at a vigil for her in Davidson Sunday night, I felt empowered to rally those who oppose this kind of government. But they are still in power and those who love justice are not and my soul is sick.