Which Voice?
Amanda Gorman 2021
Tony Hinchcliffe 2024One speaks of over coming trouble. Another speaks of blame. One instills confidence. Another elicits fear. One invites reflection and growth. Another imagines a perfection that never was. Which voice have we chosen?
At President Biden's inauguration in 2021 Amanda Gorman recited her poem, The Hill We Climb. After four years I exhaled convinced that dadrkness had been banished and that America had chosen to heed the voice of hope, compassion, unity and healing. I dared to believe that our best selves had emerged from a long slumber, and that we were back on track to perfect the American experiment.
Now it appears that I was wrong. Donald Trump has returned and with him the voice of fear, hatred, insult and scapegoating have returned. Witness the recent rally in Madison Square Garden where comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and others delivered gleeful messages of bigoted racist stereotypes warming up the attendees for Donald Trump's main address.
Is this a temporary setback or have the American people made a profound long term choice? That is the question that steals my sleep. Perhaps we can endure another four years of Trump's insanity and still get back on track once he is gone. But what if the country has decided to permanetly embrace authoritarian fascism? What if we have permanetly lost our capacity for empathy.
What if I have lost my capacity to proclaim hope and resilience? Throughout my ministry I embraced my role as hope bearer for the community. I am not confident I can be that voice any longer.
Dave Gladstone