Engage the Realities

by

Perspectives

Grinding the Beans | Aug. 9, 2025

Good morning friends. I wish you a day of peace, rest and re-creation. Thank you for the gift of a few moments to reflect on these words.

So much is going wrong in the nation in which I live. I could count the ways—essential research into chronic diseases is being compromised, as is the development of vaccines that prevent crippling illnesses; funding for recovery of natural disasters has been cut off; immigrants are being targeted and in some instances tortured; our co-equal branches of government, which have given us a boundary against authoritarianism and fascism, are not functioning in a robust way; and movements toward justice through diversity, equity and inclusion are being choked off. The national government at its highest level is complicit in human trafficking and pedophilia and at the same time is using the criminal justice system for partisan punishment.

(When I have written a paragraph like the one you just read, I will receive one or two replies questioning the appropriateness of what I said—“is this how you should lead your flock?“—or the accuracy of it—“is this true?”. I try to respond with a kind tone, but I seek to be both appropriate and accurate; not naming the harm is avoidance, and not seeing the harm is denial. Right now, avoidance and denial are not helping the most vulnerable people among us, our citizens, our neighbors, our sisters, brothers, siblings in Christ.)

+

Amidst this very real national experience I am seeking to practice hope and the discovery of my calling in the midst of it. A part of that is responsible citizenship, a part of it is trying to be a good neighbor, a part of it is praying the scriptures in the morning and evening, a part of it is trying not to be reactive or to respond to hatred with my own hatred.

(I note here that I have been helped by Brian McLaren’s chapter entitled “Hope is Complicated” in his book Life After Doom. Brian will be preaching at Lake Junaluska on Sunday morning at 9:00 am and teaching on Monday morning at 9:00 am. and I hope to be there.)

The spiritual life right now requires both acknowledgement of what is really happening, going more deeply into the mind and heart of God, and seeking joy, meaning and purpose in whatever forms these come to us. It is more helpful to build bridges rather than draw lines in the sand. We need to be allies with each other, not enemies toward each other. We need to be in solidarity with each other, not in avoidance of suffering. And we need to step back from partisan assumptions. The line between good and evil runs through every human heart (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago).

One of my more disturbing thoughts is that we may have more in common with people we often disparage than we would like to admit!

Like many who read these reflections, I am often in some kind of pendulum about all of this. Sometimes I simply need to read a novel, go to a baseball game, eat a tomato sandwich, watch British television, take a walk, plan for the future. And I am doing all of these things.

And yet I am also paying attention. I am watching and praying, I love Jesus and I love being an American. So much of what America is doing right now and most of the public knows this, is wrong. To my friends in other nations, and I am blessed with many, I can’t say this clearly enough, and I am not alone.

Our elite centers of power—-the media, prominent universities, elite law firms, even elected political leaders—-have often been muted while sorting out their own interests. The church, oddly enough, has often spoken with a clarity and a conscience, but I hope not with an arrogance or its own elitism.

We can only speak about the weakness of God that is stronger than human strength, Paul writes to the Corinthians. We can show up for rural hospitals and furloughed government workers, Hispanic workers who construct our buildings and harvest our food, an accurate telling of the history we would love to erase, the elderly with dementia in nursing homes and starving children in Gaza and against anti-Semitism.

Is any of this easy, or do I have any kind of moral high ground here?

No.

Again, Paul reminded the Corinthians that we have the treasure of the gospel in (our) earthen vessels. The transcendent power belongs to God and not to us.

I do believe in God, and in the power of God. In a difficult time I live day by day with trust and confidence in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and with the words of his prayer bouncing around in my brain, that ultimately will come to pass…

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

+

So this reflection was a little heavier, and many carry this weight of burden, conscience, concern, even anxiety or fear.

There are behaviors that we as ordinary people can take up.

As a beginning, we can learn the histories of James Ferguson, Edith Stein, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, William Wilberforce and Greta Thunberg. You could add to this list.

The load becomes lighter when we cast our burdens upon the Lord, who will sustain us. And the impossible becomes a little more possible when we bear one another’s burdens.

So, keep grinding the beans, get outside, listen to a beautiful piece of music, if you see courage somewhere, encourage more of it, and take one small step toward a better reality.

How you do that is finally up to you!

And the good news is that, with the help of God and your neighbor, you can do it.

Thanks for reading, sharing, subscribing, but mostly thanks for your friendship and connection.

P.S. Subscribing is free. Some amazing people do contribute financially to Grinding the Beans. My practice, while I am employed by the church, is to send those funds to charitable causes. Here is the list thus far. Thank you for your generosity. And again, there is no paywall and all have the same access to all content. Bottom line: thank you for reading!

  • WNCW Public Radio
  • WDAV Public Radio
  • The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
  • The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, in memory of James Ferguson
  • The Asheville Choral Society
  • Hurricane Relief, Western North Carolina Conference, UMC

Bishop Kenneth Carter is the episcopal leader of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. This post is republished with permission from his Substack blog, Grinding the Beans.