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This article was originally published on Andrew Whitehead’s Substack, American Idolatry.

It has been a tough few weeks. At the national level we have been inundated hourly, day after day, with a deluge of executive orders and moves by the current administration to dramatically reshape our federal government. Too much happened in just the last week to even do it justice in a couple sentences.

These moves have begun to alter the lives of millions of Americans and our neighbors around the world, and will affect millions more in the coming days, weeks, and months. Each of us will likely have to figure out for ourselves where and how we will respond.

For the last 10 years I’ve been involved in work that pulls back the curtain on Christian nationalism, providing an empirically-supported definition, showing how it functions, and how it undergirds so much of what is happening in our current political and social context. I will continue to do this work.

However, in the last month there have been moments where I question these past efforts and whether any future efforts will amount to much of anything. In one of those moments, I was reminded of the “Parting Words for the Journey”^[1] I wrote at the end of American Idolatry.

I had to remind myself of much of this. I’m sure I’ll have to do it again in the coming days.

While this was written to fellow Christians, I think the note of what hope is and how it operates can resonate with folks of any faith or none at all. As I wrote, hope is like planting trees—we may not enjoy the fruit or shade ourselves, but the work we do now could create a new world for those following us. May they find rest and healing shade. Onward, together.

[The remaining portion of the piece is from American Idolatry by Andrew Whitehead ©2023.  You can read the full excerpt on his Substack.]

1 American Idolatry, pages 189-192.