Although it feels like eight years, America has endured only two weeks of Donald Trump’s second presidential term. After a flurry of controversial cabinet appointments and executive orders, the familiar feeling of chaos associated with Trump has already set into my soul.
However, after eight years of experiencing Trump’s turmoil, I am well prepared to endure and thrive over the next four years. As I wrote before he took office, when Trump moved into the White House, I evicted him from my head and heart.
Here are some suggestions for combating Trump’s chaos and imagining a brighter future.
First, learn to breathe through the chaos. The 16th-century Christian Reformer Martin Luther once quipped, “To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”
As a young boy, I tended to react viscerally to chaotic experiences. My head would swirl, and my stomach would get queasy. My parents would remind me to breathe through the chaos each time. Later in life, those breathing exercises were coupled with prayer or meditation, exhaling chaos while inhaling peace.
Anytime you experience anxiety about chaos, remember to breathe and talk to your creator. Momentarily blocking out the chaos and concentrating on a divine presence calms the soul and resets the mind. Learning to breathe through the next four years will be essential for anyone trying to stay calm, positive and productive.
Second, find community. Before starting his public ministry, Jesus created a community. He first called 12 individuals as his close confidants. The disciples provided physical, emotional and spiritual support.
Later, Jesus would add to those numbers. Friends and acquaintances provided shelter and comfort along his journey. Jesus knew isolationism would not benefit him in his mission. Jesus understood the human need for community.
When experiencing chaos, we often feel alone and isolated. However, a healthy community can thwart these feelings. Community reminds us we are not alone. We have support. The community provides a safe place to cry, scream and laugh.
Third, research reliable and trustworthy sources. Chaos often depends on lies, manipulation and exaggeration. No one has perfected this strategy more than Donald J. Trump. Starting with his demonization of migrants to his obsession with the “Big Lie,” Trump and his supporters embraced the ludicrous term “alternative facts.”
Researching and collecting reliable information can be difficult in this era of mass communication, but finding trustworthy sources helps keep our rational minds focused. Attempts to gaslight us come fast and furious, so reading and watching trustworthy sources is imperative to a healthy mental and spiritual life.
Fourth, rest and refuel. “Be still and know that I am God,” writes the Psalmist (46:10). Jesus knew the importance of rest, as he often fled the crowds to be alone with his God and his thoughts. Staying informed and engaged can be exhausting, so being intentional in finding rest will help you refuel.
Long walks through the neighborhood or sitting on the patio watching birds often helps me recenter. The work of resistance is physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining. Carving our intentional time to rest allows me to disengage momentarily and remind myself why I’m passionate about my work.
Maya Angelou wrote in “Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now”: “Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”
Fifth, find hope and joy every day. “I feel anxious” or “I am feeling depressed” are some of the typical comments I hear from family, friends, and colleagues. Concentrating on the world’s most critical issues can be daunting and draining, and joy and hope can feel like a million miles away.
When the angels announced the birth of Jesus, they said, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). When chaos reigns, we often forget that faith is meant to be joyful. God created the world and humans out of an outpouring of the divine; therefore, we should marvel at the joy the world brings.
Now, this is not easy when facing such a dark moment. However, we need to permit ourselves to feel joy and hope. We need something to look forward to, such as a vacation or a night out with friends. Feeling joy and hope does not mean we’re neglecting our responsibilities. Feeling joy and hope means you’re human, needing people and moments that make you smile.
Sixth, use your imagination to dream for a better tomorrow. Examining the greatest cultural transformations in history, human imagination played a significant role. For an ostracized and marginalized Jewish rabbi in the first century, Jesus dared to imagine a community where people practiced loving their God and neighbors.
Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk, imagined a church void of corruption and control. Abolitionists dreamed of a world free of slavery. Suffragists dared to imagine a country where they were equal to their male counterparts. African American voters dreamed of a day when they would have a say in their futures. The LGBTQ+ community hoped for a future when they would be accepted and given the same rights as everyone else.
Using our imagination during the dark days of chaos can be tricky, but it’s not impossible. Remember the words of the Apostle Paul: “And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5). Therefore, extend your cup so God can fill it with love, then use your mind to imagine a better world.
Seventh, do not give up! Again, let’s turn to Paul: “Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it” (1 Corinthians 9:24). While I reject the notion there are winners and losers in life, the sentiment to keep ruing the race resonates with me.
Chaos beats us down, which is a deliberate tactic. Chaos wants us to feel beat down to the extent we give up. We stop resisting, instead giving into the chaos because it is too difficult or draining to fight. That’s the goal of chaos: to create confusion and frustration to the point of paralysis.
Long ago, I decided I would not let chaos have the upper hand. I made a commitment to let chaos swirl when it emerged, while I quietly resisted in the center or on the outskirts of the mayhem. Chaos will not beat me down, because I know I have the presence of God and community around me. Both fill me with comfort and love, providing me with peace even in the midst of chaos’ swirling winds.
Acclaimed author and antiracist activist Ta-Nehisi Coates once said, “My belief is in the chaos of the world and that you have to find your peace within the chaos and that you still have to find some sort of mission.” As the chaos continues to run out of control this week, my prayer is that each of us finds our peace, then our mission.
Together, we can get through the chaos and imagine a better tomorrow for everyone.