A Letter from the Trenches Filled with Hope
Jane Tawel
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Today my prayers have been changed by hope. I suppose if my faith were stronger, that should have always been true, but honestly, my prayers over the last two years (10 years!) have been engined by the loud and clunky power of fear — well, engined by absolute terror and aghastness (to coin a word) to be honest. Today as an American I get to pray for change and for peace and justice, truth, and the pursuit of happiness more equitable for all — and I get to believe deep down that is actually what all of us want, or at least enough of us that we can turn this Titanic around. And because I can see the ethical hearts and intelligent determination, or as James Tallerico, said the sheer and unmistakable power of LOVE in these Hope and Healing Bringers of Light, I know it won’t be easy, but “the thing with feathers” has arisen in my soul. Hallelujah! For today. Tomorrow, back to work and on my knees.
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And folks out there who still haven’t “got it”, we will be very, very happy to absolutely include in the lifeboats, those poor souls who are still blindly deifying the people in power that have been puncturing holes in the sides of our Constitutional ship and those still drowning in deceit while still worshipping their false idols — you too will be included with all the love for neighbors that we wish you had. Because that is what true Love, and true Patriotism does.
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As a Christian (albeit, granted, I am an odd or even suspect one according to the establishment) today I am elated to say that I get to pray for a new wave of determined spiritual energy and American can-do-ism; and I get to include in my sincere prayers Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus and those who have no religion at all!! Because that is what America’s dream of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all means. And that is because that is what Jesus would do and did. And that is because that is what any kind of real God asks us to do because that is what Love does. And that is the absolute bedrock of what America as a nation of equals and neighbors was supposed to be founded on. And that is what the religions of our multi-cultured nation teach — especially the one that started with the life and teachings found in the Jewish Scriptures and also the teachings of Jesus as found in the Bible.
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So, I, like everyone, have a Wishlist, that has been written anew by my hope. This is a wish list that the currently seated Congress could start right in on next week if they finally find the guts and ethics to do so. But it is with hope that the newly seated Congress in 2027 will consider. I know they will because they are already working toward these things. I wish I could share my wish list for the religion of Christianity and all its practitioners, but so many people who think they have practiced the Way of Jesus have been so very confused or frankly stubbornly disingenuous for so long, that I will leave the salvation of Christ’s message of love and truth up to God.
Meanwhile…. Here is my short wish list in a sort of prioritized order for the newly elected Congress, the newly elected Governors, and state assembly members, and transportation and agriculture secretaries, and state justices, and city council members, etc. etc. etc.
Dear Newly Elected Officials:
1. Keep moving forward with the same positivity, hope, hard work, intelligence and love of those you serve. These are your Super Powers.
2. Stop the war in Iran. Period.
3. Stop giving our money to dictators and war criminals to fund illegal wars. This includes Russia and Israel. Use that money to rehire all the unjustly fired generals and then if there is any left, start paying down our insane national debt.
4. Help Ukraine like we promised we would. Return sanctions on the bad guys, give aid to the good guys.
5. For Goodness sakes, stop all data centers everywhere for any reason and start helping our farmers. We could also return our nation to the sanity of having actual people do actual jobs. You know we all want that. But only you can do something about it.
6. This is really Number 1 for me but it is going to take longer. Please Save our Planet. You can start with an easy one like saving our public lands, helping fund ecologically sound power sources like windmills (not scary), and working on the fact that some of our states still have places without decent drinking water. Seriously. Think of your own mothers, and then think of our dear Mother Earth. The only war we should be fighting is the war against human extinction.
7. Fix our healthcare system. It’s a mess. In a nations with amazing research and medical personnel it is horrible to have such a broken healthcare system.
8. Put a decent federal tax on all billionaires. This should not be up to the states, because billionaires as we have found will just move elsewhere. Use this money to restore sanity to our safety nets and yes — pay down our trillion dollar national debt.
9. Take care of yourselves and your families. Be safe out there. But also take time to meditate, to look at beauty, to take a walk, to hug your loved ones, and to use all the gratitude you have in every cell of your body to be grateful for this chance. It’s truly an amazing chance in a million. Start each day with gratitude that you “have been chosen for such a time as this”.
10. And whatever words or beliefs or cultures or colors or genders or histories or dreams deferred that have made you, you — — Be the Love. To yourself, your neighbor, your God, and your nation. Love has made a way. Now we join you in widening the path and walking it in the hope of a brand new day.
Dear New Leaders: You have been elected, but please don’t confuse that with so many leaders that think that means you are the elect. You are one of us, and when we are One united, then nothing can stop us in our goals to make Life better here and now and maybe even grasp that Kingdom of Heaven spirit we are told about.
Many of us little Who’s here in Whoville are counting on you and let that be the wind beneath your wings. We will be praying with hope in whatever language or with whatever understanding or non-understanding we have. We still have energy to give and all of us have a new tank full of hope. Because this nation — this world — this planet — is really ours to care for. We are trusting you to do your part where you are, and we will do our part where we are. Let’s take good care of this moment of opportunity, take good care of each other, and take good care of Hope.
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“May those who hope in the LORD (and those who don’t call it that) renew their strength. May we soar on wings like eagles (apt symbol for our nation); and may we run and not grow weary, may we walk and not be faint” (from Isaiah 40).
© Jane Tawel, 2026
