Caiaphas

Matthew 26:3-4 – Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

Last week I shared my temporary hopelessness. For me, talking and feeling hopeless are not signs of a more serious problem. However, that is not the case for everyone. So, for anyone who may need these:

National Institute of Mental Health Disaster Distress Helpline 1-800-985-5990

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255.

My feelings of hopelessness last week were partially due to these verses. We are up against Caiaphas and his conspiracies and corruptions. The only difference is what “Caiaphas” is planning. Caiaphas was planning to arrest and kill Jesus. “Caiaphas” is so focused on his poll numbers, he has botched the response to the coronavirus threat into a pandemic, and is planning on opening up the country long before we’re ready. This will naturally lead to more deaths and more chaos, more pain and more suffering. It’s understandable that people might feel hopeless, sad, frustrated, scared, angry and afraid.

While understandable, it’s important that we take care of our mental health. I have found that one way to feel less hopeless, sad, frustrated, scared, angry, or afraid, is to do something positive, to resist “Caiaphas’” takeover of America.

For a separate project, I’m reading about the French Resistance in WWII. In many ways, their situation mirrors our own: “Caiaphas” wants to be the dictator that Hitler was; the Neo-Nazis, the militia doing his bidding, the oppression of minority populations (Jews, Black people, Latinx people), especially immigrants. While it is hard to resist effectively in big ways because of the White Supremacist takeover of the Republican party, people are resisting. The people of France resisted in both small and large ways. Mostly small, mostly clandestine. It was their acts of resistance and their extensive networks that created hope for themselves and others. Reading their stories gives me hope for us. Their courage and their fortitude in fighting for their life. Not just surviving, but for the meaningful lives they lived that were removed when the Nazis showed up.

In the face of Donald’s oh so obvious desire to be a fascist dictator, we are faced with similar choices as the French people during WWII. We can acquiesce and collaborate, but that way lies sorrow, death of our souls and our bodies, and hopelessness. Or we can reject collaboration and work to save as many lives as we can as well as to defeat “Caiaphas” at the polls in November. Choosing to make things better, choosing to restore meaning to life for all is the way of hope. 

Let’s ask ourselves how we can make things better today.

B