Titanic Days

This is a difficult post. But then, these are difficult times.

This past Monday was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, which seemed like propitious timing, considering the events of the past few weeks.

At church, our pastor gave a sermon about the principles of nonviolence as outlined by King, illustrated by hand-lettered posters, which were placed around the sanctuary. As the words went up and the congregation absorbed them, I felt myself stiffening a little. The pastor acknowledged this, saying that when several of her family members helped make the posters, one remarked, "Wow, you're really reaching here for perfection, aren't you?"

We stared at all of the posters, and I think particularly at the one that read, "My opponent is not evil."

Evil, I read this week, is the absence of empathy. ICE agents have made it clear this week that they are devoid of empathy. In fact, they seem to glory in their capacity for cruelty, to be eager to rub our noses in it. Look at what we can do to you all their actions seem to say, and you can do nothing to stop it.

They drag people from their homes and from their cars, including both immigrants who are following all the rules and have permission to be here, as well as citizens. They spray tear gas and other chemical irritants on crowds. They scream profanity and contempt at us. And so much more.

The difficulty of the principles of nonviolence is to commit to bear the consequences, no matter what. When you give yourself over to it, the resulting scenes of violence wreaked upon those not resisting shock the conscience of the world. Sometimes that is the only way that can change begin.

Like the protesters who allowed themselves to be beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the people of Minneapolis and St. Paul are standing up to whatever is thrown at them to say, "No more." And believe me, what is being thrown at us is really terrible.

This past weekend, I went to the Powderhorn Park Art Sled rally. I have lived in this neighborhood for over thirty years, but this was the first time I heard about this event. It was very well attended, as if everyone in the surrounding neighborhood decided, "The hell with it. Let's show the government that they can't destroy our community." Many of the slides had anti-ICE themes, and some were incredibly elaborate.

But the one I liked best of all was one of the simplest ones: A man throwing himself down on his belly and rocketing down the icy hill with a bright blue kite bobbing over his head that read "Be Good."

Image description: Light blue background. Text reads in posterboard lettering: 'My opponent is not evil' 'Friendship not Humiliation' 'Love is the Center' Nonviolence is Strength' 'Bear the Pain' 'God is on the side of Justice.' Center: a man lies outstretched on a sled. Above it bobs a blue kite with the words 'Be Good'

Nonviolence



Click on the links to see the 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.

I spent over an hour working on this collage without being able to quite pin down the name for it. Initially, I titled it 'Imbalance,' but that word didn't quite capture the ominousness of what I was trying to convey. Eventually, I decided upon 'Upheaval.'

I remarked to someone this week that I didn't envision the beginning of my retirement being quite like this.

Besides all the uncertainty over the usual issues at this time of life like 'what do I do with my time?' and 'what is my new budget going to be like?' there are other questions, like 'will my next door neighbor be arrested?' and 'is this neighborhood business open, or have all their employees been kidnapped?' and 'what are the chances that my car is going to get rammed by ICE?'

I'm not going to go into great depth about all the news events that this collage is reflecting. If you are not aware, the Twin Cities are under siege by the federal government. Constitutional rights are being absolutely ignored. Rather, the ICE agents cruising around the city are making a huge show of deliberately and flagrantly violating constitutional rights, apparently just to demonstrate that they can.

There are rumors flying around the city, and everyone is angry, stressed, and yes, afraid. Yet the city is pulling together, with people joining Signal groups to protect their neighbors, setting up patrols to guard schools, churches, and day care centers, and donating money and supplies to support immigrants in hiding from ICE. All these actions are like a lighthouse in the middle of a storm.

A stormy sea with a lighthouse, partially obscured by fog. A woman stands unsteadily on top of the waves, in three overlapping poses, arms flailing as if struggling for balance. A giant, ominous-looking kraken lurks partially below the surface of the waves, brandishing its tentacles threateningly, center right.

Upheaval



Click on the links to see the 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021 52 Card Project galleries.