PCUN May Day 2025
Reflection by the Rev. Connie Yost
President, Farm Worker Ministry Northwest
In 1962 James Baldwin wrote, "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."[i] Friends, we must stay strong and face the hard truths of this lawless and immoral time in our country.
And the truth is that the Trump administration appears to be heading to an authoritarian system, under which, in the words of Jamal Greene, professor at Columbia Law School, “civil society is significantly diminished for fear of targeted retribution... We have much to fear.”[ii]
And there is much fear in our hearts. Fear of being deported, fear of families being torn apart, fear of economic hardship, fear of programs being diminished or eliminated that provide the basic safety net of food for the hungry, care for the elderly, services for the disabled and health care for all.
Isabel Allende who was forced to flee Chile in a military coup says that “Fear is a very pervasive thing that changes a society, and changes the way people behave with each other, and changes you inside. Something breaks inside you.”[iii]
Friends, it is our moral and human duty to come together in this time of fear. Some of us are breaking inside right now. We must stand strong together and not let us forget the inherent worth and dignity of each person, regardless of legal status. We must stand strong against hateful narratives and policies that break people apart. We must offer ourselves as a sanctuary for all in need.
We must stand together, as one community. Pope Francis wrote “Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.”[iv]
I offer you this closing blessing:
May you offer and find comfort in a community of mutual support and care, such as this one;
May you cultivate and offer others love and hope even in darkest of times;
May we never forget that our lives are interconnected and we have a moral responsibility to care for one other, especially those in the most need and under the most threat;
May we honor the inherent worth and dignity of each person we meet;
May we be motivated by our own moral outrage to speak out, stand up, and stand with, and share our own stories;
May we know that there is an infinite love that surrounds us and supports us, even in our darkest hour.
Amen and blessed be.
