We are Protectors
We are protectors.
We are defined not by what we resist, but by what we love.
We will resist and protest all that threatens people and the planet.
We will circle around and focus on the moral center that we want to protect.
We will call ourselves protectors to remember what we love.
We will resist becoming what we are resisting.
We will protect human rights, women’s rights, and civil liberties.
We will protect the constitution,
We will protect those who resist oppression in all forms.
We will protect babies and children, women and men, families and communities,
We will protect all genders,
We will protect those who are attacked for the color of their skin or their religion,
We will protect migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
We will protect the land from chemicals and bulldozers and we will learn to live sustainably on a fragile planet,
We will protect the air from pollution, and we will breathe deeply when we feel angry,
We will protect the animals ravaged by factory farming and destruction of the environment, and learn to respect their lives.
We will protect all life,
We will protect contraception, family planning, and support for young families, as we know these are the most powerful ways to prevent abortion.
We will protect women and their doctors from the threat of prison.
We will protect the earth, the air, the fire, and the water for these are the elements of our existence.
We will lie down on the earth when we need to renew our energy,
We will take a deep breath when we are tired and angry,
We will light a candle when we need the fire to renew our hope and light a path forward,
We will drink water, the first medicine, to clean, calm, and restore us, for our bodies are made of 60% water.
We will welcome those who are searching for a new home, and provide sanctuary for tired souls,
We will buy sustainably grown food when we can,
We will wear pink hats, yellow vests, and comfortable shoes,
We will hold signs that announce what we are protecting,
We will make phone calls to government leaders,
We will show up at town halls and meetings with our representatives
to ask them to join the protection movement.
We will find beauty.
We will see beauty in the diversity of humankind, in the land, and in the wilderness.
Those of us with a privileged identity will seek to follow and not lead.
We will listen to and respect requests for how we identify, reflect upon, and use our privilege in service to others.
We will be ready to apologize.
We will be ready to learn.
We will protect ourselves from overexposure to the names, photos, and callous actions
of this US Administration.
We will inform ourselves with facts and analysis, but we will not drown in news that is toxic to our souls.
We will remember that our need to protect people and the planet did not begin with this Administration.
The forces that threaten people and the planet go far beyond the Administration.
We will refuse to let violence poison our efforts to protect.
Violence is a virus. Violence does not contain threats. It multiplies them.
Violence does not protect, it increases the threats to what we love.
We will resist hate in all of its forms.
We will resist becoming the evil that we are trying to overcome.
We will not focus our attention on our fears and those that threaten us.
We are defined not by what we resist, but by what we love.
We will invite others to love and protect.
We will find common ground with those across the lines of division.
We will ask others what they love, and find new allies wherever we can.
We will listen to and dialogue with those with whom we disagree.
We will pray for all those who threaten others that they may find their moral center.
We will say a prayer for those that endanger us, for those who stand beside us,
for those whose lives are in danger.
We will remember that our lives are meant to bend the arc of the universe toward justice.
And we will know that protecting brings our lives meaning and joy.