Remember: Grief Is a Form of Patriotism, Too.

This 4th of July, many of us won’t be waving flags or watching fireworks. Not because we hate our country, but because we love it too much to pretend everything is fine.

When we see the powerful wield their influence to harm the poor, when policies are passed that will strip people of healthcare, housing, safety, and dignity, when we watch the planet ravaged for profit, when cruelty is packaged as strength and injustice paraded as “God’s will,” our hearts break. And that heartbreak is holy.

Grief is a form of patriotism, too.

Lament is an honest form of love.

We mourn because this is all just a continuation of our nation’s sins of the past. We mourn because we believe this country can be better.

We lament because we believe the words “liberty and justice for all” should mean something for all.

We grieve not because we’ve given up, but because we still care.

True patriotism isn’t celebration without conscience. It’s not about believing we are greater than all other nations. It’s about holding our nation accountable to its highest ideals. It’s about refusing to settle for freedom for the few while millions are pushed aside, unheard, and unseen.

It’s praying, protesting, speaking, and serving until justice is no longer the exception, but the norm.

So on this 4th of July, if you feel more like weeping than cheering, you are not alone.

There is room at the table of hope for tears, too.

Because our grief is rooted in love. Because we still believe in a freedom that includes everyone.

And that is its own kind of celebration.

Now I'd like to hear from you! Did you find this helpful? What thoughts came to your mind as you read? Feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me. I look forward to reading them. A 30 Day Day Devotional: I wrote a daily devotional in hopes to provide a companion for people seeking to follow Jesus through the season of we are currently navigating together. You can find out more below: $20.00 Following Jesus In A World Obsessed With Empires: 30 Days of reclaiming the hope, compassion, and justice of Jesus. Today, our world can often feel overwhelmed by darkness, division, and despair. I created this 30-day devotional to... Read more Get it now! ​ Ways to support: If you'd like to support this project, you can do so through one-time-gift of any amount you feel is right. You can also subscribe through a $5/mo, $15/mo, or $25/mo. Several others have also asked for a recurring gift option that is different from the ones offered here, like this one. If you'd like me to set up a different option for you, please just send me an email with the word "support" in the subject line. As always, I really want to thank all of you for reading and for all the ways you support me and this project every single week. I'm thankful for the ways we are building this together and hope it creates a lasting, positive change in our world along the way! I sincerely appreciate you all, Ben Remember, you can now view this and all previous newsletters as well as invite friends to join through this link: https://benjamin-cremer.ck.page/profile.

​