Now is not the time to fear. Now is not the time to panic. And now is most definitely not the time to hate.
Fear, panic, and hate are Demons that lay just beyond the cloud of turmoil that we now face as a nation, culminating in the recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump–though other moments of political violence have become common.
Unseen, these Sirens, like Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey, taunt our better angels with a song that lures us into the rocks of disaster.
Their song tempts us because it is not one of lies but one–perhaps surprisingly–of truths. Unfortunately, their truths are not towards knowledge and understanding but rather towards destruction and calamity.
Our nation has sailed close to these rocks before. We have heard the seduction of the Sirens song many times. The violence of the Sixties. The Red Scare of the Cold War. The anarchists of the early 20th century. The disunion of the Civil War.
We will hear these Sirens now, too. The chorus will ring with fear, panic, and hate. The melody will be tinged with blame, finger-pointing, and easy answers.
The road ahead is not an easy one. The song of our better angels will be one of sacrifice, understanding, and kindness to one another. Like Odysseus, we should not ignore the Sirens. We should hear their song, but–if only metaphorically–we must strap ourselves to the mast of our ships and not be tricked.
We must also listen for the small quiet voices of reason. These voices have stepped forward before through Robert Kennedy in the 1960s, Dwight Eisenhower in the Cold War, Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the century, and of course Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War. These voices are not as popular at the moment but find their strength through the crucible of history.
Finding these voices in the cacophony as the hoards fall victim to the Sirens is not an easy task, but one that we must accept if the Shining City on the Hill is to endure.
