Twenty five thousand National Guard troops have been deployed in anticipation of more violence, during Wednesday’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. I am grateful that since my daughter recently returned from deployment, she cannot be pulled for this current duty. One of her comrades; however, has been sent to Washington D. C. I can feel the tension mounting as Wednesday approaches. There have already been arrests made of those seeking unlawful entry into the capitol grounds and surrounding areas – a woman impersonating a police officer and a man carrying a handgun and ammunition.
My memory takes me back to the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated, in November 1963. I was just eleven years old and in the 5th grade. Sitting in my elementary school classroom, I remember the shock and somber heaviness of that day. A radio was brought into the class so we could follow the news. I was too young to fully grasp or to appreciate the gravity of that event; but the feeling of it remains embedded in my soul. I recall watching the funeral procession from our living room as my family gathered around our black and white television.
I think that what our country is facing today, is possibly just as grim as the political atmosphere of the early 1960’s. Today, it is not as clear who our enemies are. There could still be violent Trump supporters within the White House, from the staff in the kitchen, all the way up to the politicians themselves. There could be “bad cops”, traitors, and “wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing”. The evil could be lurking in the very fabric of our democracy. Trained snipers could be hiding in plain sight and even within the law enforcement departments or the military, that are meant to be protecting the incoming president.
This is not just paranoid thinking. Clearly, the threat is very real and that is why so many soldiers have been called out to confront the possibility, of still more domestic terrorism, not only in D. C., but in major cities around the country. The division in our United States has continued to grow wider over the course of the last four years. Trumpism has been a virus every bit as deadly as COVID, spreading throughout the land and feeding the flames of hatred. It has ignited dissent even among family members and become grounds for divorce. The only way to fight this social virus is to NOT fight it. There is no vaccine that will stop the spread of this malignancy. The only way to banish it is to build immunity in our hearts. We must strengthen our capacity for love. We must enforce within ourselves, empathy and compassion; and we must refuse to lower ourselves to the indignity of contempt and violence. We must become beacons of light and shine that light into every dark corner. Only then, can we preserve the sacred peace and live in harmony with one another.
