To despondent friends in time of crisis
Some of you are so saddened and frightened by the impending presidency of Donald Trump that you’re disengaging from political discourse—logging off Facebook and Twitter, abandoning the news, withdrawing from public life.
Don’t. Of all times, not now.
Instead, consider the words of founding father and unrepentant rabble-rousing pamphleteer Thomas Paine in his December 1776 piece “The American Crisis № 1.”
His series of essays aimed at rallying colonial support for the American Revolution begins this way:
THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
If you believe America’s facing another crisis, you could do worse than to take Paine’s sentiment to heart.
Advocating for fairness, kindness and civility is easy when the nation’s leaders more or less do the same. Championing those values when the guy at the top rolls the other way may prove a trial of the soul.
To withdraw from the public space now is to be a sunshine patriot — to shrink from the service of your country.
If the things you’ve valued about America are in jeopardy, now’s the time to stand by those things.
A wise boss of mine once said of the rough days at work, “These are the times you earn your keep. The easy times, you do for free.”
The years ahead represent your soul’s chance to earn its keep.
Stay engaged.
