Happy October! As the leaves begin to change and we start to expect some more consistent, cooler weather, we also find ourselves one step closer to Election Day on November 5. This means that we are all holding complex feelings. Feelings of celebration, hope, fear, dread, and all of the other very human emotions that we have within ourselves.
As I have been reflecting on these realities, Austin Channing Brown’s Instagram post appeared in front of me: “The world is on fire. And I’m planning a birthday party.”
She states: “The world is on fire, and I’m planning a birthday party. These two things feel deeply incongruous. Climate change is causing storms that are wiping out towns. Marcellus Williams was executed despite those who operate the justice system noting the injustice. The world is on fire and I am planning a birthday party. Everyday we watch a genocide continue in Palestine. We try to raise awareness about genocides and human rights violations happening in other places around the world. There’s a chemical plant fire in Georgia. We are all figuring out how to navigate this election season day by day. The world is on fire and I’m planning a birthday party. Mass shootings continue to be normal. Wages are not keeping up with the price of… everything. And our personal lives are complicated by grief and stress and uncertainties and hopes and disappointments and a deep desire to lead lives that matter. The world is on fire, and I’m planning a birthday party.
If I am honest, it feels wrong. And yet, even as things fall apart, I want to celebrate you.”
She continues on in her post about the feeling of celebrating people’s wins, hopes, joys, and accomplishments in a time where everything else is too much. What I think she holds true to us today, especially as we enter into our Do Unto Others Series, is that we all hold more than any of us actually know, realize, or even would like to recognize in others. That we hold a space for both fire and balloons.
As we kick off this series, I invite you to hold onto these complexities. Hold onto the fact that we all have these dualities in our lives that make us who we are. Hold onto the idea that the world is on fire, and, yes, we are planning a birthday party.
Meredith Menius (she/they)
Director of Connecting and Discipleship Ministries