When hate dominates the public discourse, you face a daily choice between surrender and resistance through love. Since November, you’ve witnessed an unprecedented surge of hatred flowing from podiums, press conferences, and legislative floors where hate that seeks to exterminate vulnerable populations and silence voices of love. This constant barrage of hostility threatens to infiltrate your heart and soul, challenging your fundamental belief that God is love.
You cannot afford to unconsciously drift through your days anymore; instead, you must intentionally align yourself with love at every moment. From the Episcopal priest attacked for speaking Jesus’ words at the inauguration to faith leaders hammered for living their beliefs publicly, you see how those who choose love face persecution.
Yet like Dr. King, you’re called to make that choice anyway; not the wishy-washy sentimental kind of love, but “a strong love that commands action” that looks beyond faults and hatred to see the beloved community God envisions.
“We are being asked in this time if we are a beloved community are we going to as Dr. King said, ‘Choose love on a daily basis. Choose love on an hourly basis.'”
Your response to this challenge comes through acting out and creating action in the community that transforms the world. You see this modeled in the artist who withdrew her powerful painting of Lady Liberty as a Black trans person from the Smithsonian rather than accept censorship, and in trans clergy who stand up despite facing extinction attempts, asking allies to amplify their voices.
When you encounter hate, when you disagree with actions rooted in hostility, your call remains clear: act out with love that creates beloved community, trusting God’s spirit to bring transformation through your faithful witness.
New Yorker cover mentioned in Sermon: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2025-08-11
