Big Beautiful Wake Up Call

We created this moment, so now what?

Photo by Hannah Tu on Unsplash

On Thursday, July 3, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the President’s Big Ugly Destructive Deadly domestic policy bill, which authorizes the largest cuts to America’s safety net, stripping Medicaid, SNAP benefits, and other vital services from millions of poor and low-wealth Americans. As the votes were tallied, the chamber erupted in chants of “USA! USA!” from lawmakers who had just voted to gut healthcare, slash SNAP benefits, and pave the way for more economic chaos in the lives of millions of working families.

But let’s be clear: you were not included in their cheers. We were not included in their cheers. The people were not the point of their celebration. (to see the impact of this bill in your state: click here)

Rev. Dr. William Barber II told the truth plainly:

“This big ugly bill is the largest cut to healthcare and food assistance for children in our nation’s history… By passing this bill, lawmakers have officially codified the deaths of thousands of people. It’s policy murder in plain sight.”

And in a nation where many who passed this bill claim religious values, he added:

“There is no religion that supports the degradation of humans.”

“By passing this bill, lawmakers have officially codified the deaths of thousands of people. It’s policy murder in plain sight.” - William Barber II

And yet—here we are. Again.

For those of us grounded in New Thought teachings, this is one of those difficult moments where spiritual principle meets political reality. We are reminded that life is not happening to us, it is happening through us. This is not just a feel-good affirmation for vision boards and prosperity classes. It’s a radical call to consciousness, especially in times like these.

Because the truth is - we (through the collective consciousness) created this.

Not alone. Not in isolation. But in participation. Through acquiescence. Through apathy. Through our tolerance of inhuman policies and positions, and our silence in the face of rising authoritarianism wrapped in red, white, and blue.

We allowed cruelty to be normalized.

We let lies linger in the atmosphere unchecked.

We traded moral clarity for political convenience.

We dismissed systemic harm as someone else’s fight.

We created this through our silence, our spiritual detachment, our tolerance of inhumane policies because they didn’t affect us directly. Through apathy. Through avoidance. Through letting ourselves believe that someone else—somewhere else—would speak up.

And yes—many of you reading this did call your representatives. You did march. You did speak truth when it mattered. But this moment has been not just years, but decades in the making. This bill is not an accident; it is the culmination of long, deliberate erosion. There are forces in this country, entrenched, well-funded, and deeply ideological—who have never wanted this to be a United States of America. They have never intended for this land to be a place of equal opportunity, shared responsibility, or collective conscience.

They have always sought power, not partnership. Control, not community. And they have counted on our exhaustion, our fragmentation, our distraction.

And now, we face the consequences, millions pushed further to the margins, stripped of healthcare, food access, housing assistance, and the fragile dignity that social support systems attempt to provide. The chaos being unleashed isn’t accidental; it is engineered. And still, the spiritual question remains:

What is ours to do now?

First, we must feel this moment. Let the anger rise. Let the grief come. Don’t bypass it with platitudes. New Thought is not a shield from pain; it’s a lens through which we can transform pain into power.

Then, we must own our part, not in shame, but in sobriety. As James Baldwin reminded us, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Until we reconcile with the hard truth that our collective inaction, compromise, and complacency over decades has helped shape this reality, we will be doomed to keep recreating it. There is no THEM to blame - only the One as US.

This is not about blame. This is about agency. It’s about reclaiming the divine creative power within us, individually and collectively to say no more. To stop imagining that consciousness ends at the edge of our yoga mat, or that prosperity is only personal.

Now is the time for what I call applied spirituality, where principle becomes protest, where love becomes legislation, where affirmation becomes action.

But spiritual awakening means we must now face what we have created. Not to wallow in shame—but to rise in power. Because we still have that power. New Thought teaches us that the same consciousness that created the problem can birth the solution—but only if we awaken to our agency.

We are not the first generation to wrestle with the soul of this nation. Frederick Douglass stood at a similar threshold in 1852 when he asked:

“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?”

“I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.” - Fredrick Douglas

Douglass saw through the veneer of patriotism to the violence beneath it, just as we must do today. When lawmakers chant “USA” after stripping life-sustaining programs from the people, it is not a celebration of liberty. It is a hollow cry from a government that has abandoned its moral center.

But Douglass also pointed to possibility. He believed in the power of conscience. Of reform. Of moral vision rooted in action.

We must do the same.

Let this Big Ugly Bill be a wake-up call—not just to political consequences, but to spiritual responsibility.

Let us feel the anger. Grieve the betrayal. Then rise—not just in protest, but in prophetic imagination.

We who believe in love must not be silent. We must apply our spirituality in the streets and the chambers, the pulpits and the polls. We must reclaim our divine power—not just to affirm truth in meditation, but to embody justice in motion.

Let us say with all the force of love and moral clarity:

Not like this.

Not in our name.

Not again.

We are not powerless. We are not voiceless. We are co-creators of reality. The “USA” they chant is not the Beloved Community we are building. That one still needs our voices, our values, and our votes.

Let’s get to work—through us, not to us.

What is mine to do? / Resources:

https://breachrepairers.org/get-involved/events/moral-mondays-in-dc/

https://breachrepairers.org/uploads/StateByState_SnapCuts.pdf

https://breachrepairers.org/uploads/The-High-Moral-Stake-Report_March-3-2025.pdf

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As always, your support makes this work possible - and as always I am committed to equity and liberation, so my work is always free. Nonetheless acts of economic solidarity that help break the trance of scarcity are greatly appreciated. Together, we can demonstrate that abundance is the nature of reality. Thank you for your support.

Rev. David Alexander D.D. is the spiritual director of the Spiritual Living Center of Atlanta, author of Freedom from Discord: The Promise of New Thought Liberation Theology and Recovery from the Lie of Whiteness. David writes a monthly column, Philosophy In Action in Science of Mind Magazine.