If you are filled with fear and anxiety about the future of America, you are not alone.

You are being called.

What if Trump winning this election is the fuel for awakening and shifting humanity to a higher level of consciousness? I’m not trying to sugar coat the outcome of this election or use toxic positivity to two-step my way out of the despair many of us feel for our country and our future. Make no mistake, as Trump has made clear, America will now follow the Prime Minister of Hungary Victor Orban’s lead and change to an illiberal democracy to uphold the patriarchy.

Under this new administration, more rights will be taken away, an independent press will find it difficult to operate, more books will be banned, education will continue to be privatized while public education is undercut, and people will die because of Trump’s policies. But Trump winning could also be the catalyst for the countries’ long-awaited reckoning. What if those opposed to Trump and all that he stands for used his win to go deeply into the vertical dimension to connect to their soul, our ancestors, and God? It is my belief that we, all the people who oppose Trump and his agenda, are being called to awaken to a new level of consciousness.

America is a country taken from the Native Americans and built on the back of slaves. We have a rough and ugly history that was whitewashed for years by white men in charge that were writing the history books and the laws. As I began to understand our sordid past and the present, it was the ideals and promise of a better America—the hope of what we could become—that made me proud to be an American. It was the ideals written in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

Those God given unalienable rights were the inspiration for the basis of the American form of government. The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, were written to guarantee civil rights and liberties to individuals in America. For years, we have engaged in robust debates with our neighbors and in the courts about how expansive those rights should be. And we did it together as Americans.

Photo by Courtney Hedger on Unsplash

Perhaps the beginning of the end was when Newt Gingrich discovered that wedge issues could divide and polarize people, making it hard for neighbors to debate issues with civility. Or maybe it had more to do with such a wide range of media outlets competing for the attention of viewers, so they turned to sensationalism by using alarming headings to grab attention. Or maybe it was when dark money became legal and muddied the waters of democracy. Whatever it was, when Trump came along, he fed on people’s fears and dominated the headlines with his chaos, and the political landscape shifted from one of us as Americans, in this together, to us versus them.

When Hillary lost, I thought to myself, “Most people that voted for him don’t understand what they’re voting for and how corrupt of a conman he is. The media, Fox News, and Russian operatives turned the people so against Hillary that they couldn’t see the forest for the trees. They just want change and don’t realize how dangerous he is.”

I hoped that I was wrong and maybe a Trump presidency wouldn’t be as bad as I thought it would be. I was wrong but not in the way I hoped. A Trump presidency was worse than I had imagined. The hate and vitriol that came from a country led by a man fueled by selfishness, hate, and greed was palpable. I watched in horror as rights were taken away, children crossing the border were separated from their parents, and scape goats were created to fuel and feed people’s anger. I then watched the insurrection with open mouthed disbelief. When it was over, I thought finally we would be rid of this cancer. But most of the Republicans in power chose to protect him.

When Biden became President, to quote the political historian Heather Richardson Cox:

In order to strengthen democracy at home and abroad, Biden worked to show that it delivered for ordinary Americans. He and the Democrats passed groundbreaking legislation to invest in rebuilding roads and bridges and build new factories to usher in green energy. They defended unions and used the Federal Trade Commission to break up monopolies and return more economic power to consumers.

Their system worked. It created record low unemployment rates, lifted wages for the bottom 80% of Americans, and built the strongest economy in the world in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, setting multiple stock market records. But that success turned out not to be enough to protect democracy.

Biden’s accomplishments and the booming economy were barely covered in the media over the next four years. I learned about Biden’s accomplishments by reading Heather Richardson Cox’s newsletters on Substack. The media was focused on Biden’s age and gaffes and Trump’s trials because that is what drew attention.

When Biden stepped aside for Kamala Harris to run, I thought it was the right thing to do because it didn’t look like Biden could beat Trump. I believed in Harris and the energy around her let me know I wasn’t the only one. Democrats seems genuinely excited and fired up. Harris ran an amazing campaign, full of joy, hope, and optimism. She was also clear about how dangerous a Trump presidency would be.

Trump’s closing comments before election day were worse than ever, full of anger and hate, and yet somehow, that is who America chose—an angry felon, sex-offender, and greedy conman. They chose fear, anger, greed, and hatred, over joy, hope, optimism, and the rich sharing a piece of the pie to continue building back a strong middle class.

The morning after the election, I was filled with despair. I went upstairs to wake my two children. I looked deep into their eyes and wondered what kind of world they were going to inherit. It certainly wasn’t going to be the America I grew up in, and maybe that isn’t such a bad thing. I know things are going to get dark, but America has failed to live up to her ideals since her inception. And I admit, I’m scared of this new future, and I should be. So should you. And as the Bible in Mark, Mathew, Luke, and even Honest Abe foretold, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

What do we do with this fear as we watch the hopeful dream of America die over the next four years? Do we use it to fuel our fight, as many have advocated? I believe this is the wrong approach. If we start fighting him and his agenda, he wins because fighting, fear, anger, and rage—that is where he lives and reigns. We don’t have to live there. Trump may rule this country for the next four years and beyond, but he doesn’t have to rule our hearts. We can use Trump’s presidency to fuel the great awakening. The only thing to do with fear is let it move through you and surrender it to the God of your understanding. If you don’t believe in God, surrender your fear to love. As Martin Luther King Jr. said

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

In the end, I believe justice and love will prevail, I just don’t know how long it will take. America as we have known her is going to change. Some of it will be scary and horrible, but not all of this is bad news. American society overall is not healthy and arguably never has been. For example, most Americans know the Kardashians and the Real Housewives, watching what they do, and their ever-changing plastic faces and fashion more than they know our own history and who our senators and representatives are.

We are a country that pays entertainers and athletes more than educators and scientists. Kids spend more time on their screens than with friends. Narcissism seems to be the norm as selfies are a common daily social media update. Not surprisingly, suicide rates among children are at an all-time high. Alcohol consumption is on a steady rise. We have long lost our sense of community and its importance. America’s belief in rugged individualism is a lie that has perpetuated this I’m-in-it-for-me culture that is producing rotten fruit.

This country may fall into a period of fascism and things may get worse before they get better, but none of us can be of use to anyone if we are full of despair, anger, and hatred. As the beloved monk Thich Nhat Hanh said

Someone asked me, “Aren’t you worried about the state of the world?” I allowed myself to breathe and then I said, “What is most important is not to allow your anxiety about what happens in the world to fill your heart. If your heart is filled with anxiety, you will get sick, and you will not be able to help.”

I want to help. I want to be a light in the darkness that is coming. In order to do this, I must let go of my anger, fear, and hatred. Rather than use this election to fuel my fight, let it fuel my love. Whenever we fight, Trump and his movement grows. The only way to deal with Trump and his cronies is with love. Love is something Trump does not understand, but it is the most powerful tool in the universe.

This may sound too feel good and woo-woo to you, but it’s not. This type of love is not easy or even peaceful. This is the type of love Jesus preached and lived out and it is called radical love. And radical love ended in Jesus being nailed to the cross. Love is easy when love is returned, but radical, forgive-them-for-they-know-not-what-they-do kind of love, that is hard. However, that is the kind of love that changes the world.

After the election, I sat in my house and meditated for a long time. I felt an overwhelming connection to the Divine and peace while meditating that morning. I was alone in my house, but I was not alone in my meditation. My brain was not busy as it sometimes is during meditation. Rather, there was something pulling me deeply into the vertical and connecting me to others. When I came out of my meditation, with a steady mind and an open heart, I realized God can use me when I’m in this place. And the world needs us all right now to proceed with open and vulnerable hearts. That is the only way out of the divided house, not by fighting our way out, but by loving our way back to each other. God will need all of us to love more than we have ever loved before. God will need us to raise our consciousness to a level that our problems have solutions that were previously unimaginable.

This could be the fall of American democracy, but it might not be. None of us know how this is going to play out. But if we surrender our fear to a loving God and go deeply into the vertical dimension, we can be used by the Universe when needed. When enough people raise their consciousness, when enough people love without condition, the old world will collapse, and things will change. So please join me in going deeper, connecting with the Creator, and choosing to love radically. Let this election be the fire that fuels the awakening this world needs so something new and more beautiful can be born from the ashes of the old.