Last month, I had the pleasure of sharing this piece at the alumni retreat for my writing fellowship with Made for Pax. It was the first time that I have ever shared my work in front of a live audience, and I am sharing it here today with you(after I shared this piece, Pax added it to it’s newsletter which was a special honor for me)! This country, that I call my birthplace is far from perfect; but it is my home. I hope this piece inspires you to think about what true leadership means and what the true potential of this country could be. Happy 4th of July.

Bend the Knee

I was taught that if you can kneel before God,

You can stand before kings.

I watched as my brother knelt before man.

His act of submission in honor of those who’s life had been unjustly taken.

Those who benefited from these deaths, mocked him.

His bravery too painful of a reflection for their cowardice.

I watched as the banality of man was revealed.

Their fears. Their hubris.

Unable to see the coming downfall of their broken pride.

The fearful people elected a man who told them that they were never wrong.

That their justifiable fears were due to helping hands that were not extended to them.

So used to living in their imagined utopia, they could not accept their own reality. 

Too deep in their delusion they elected a man who imagined himself a king.

A king who worshipped at the altar of greed. His Lord was the Master of Darkness. His bible a book filled with only his name.

Hundreds of years ago, wise men wrote “ A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People.”

I watched as the world I knew fell apart.

I bent my knees in prayer to the one true King.

A King whose words created the universe.

A King whose hand painted the sunset.

A King with the power to raise up leaders and bring others down.

Because of Him, I fear no tyrant.

Your name which you love so much

Will be remembered in the history books as the worst of us.

A reminder of what coddling, ignorance, and unkept power brings.

You will be like chaff that is blown away by the wind.

I was taught that if I can kneel before God.

I can stand against anything.