Donald Trump is telling you a story about who we are as a nation. Do you buy it? 

 

Trump’s story is this: America is a nation in decline—undermined by lunatic, left-wing radicals, threatened by immigrants and even our allies. In his story, only some of us are worthy citizens and only he can make things better. He will do this through the brutal application of power and control.

 

Donald Trump isn’t the only storyteller. JD Vance is telling a story, too. His goes like this: America has been hollowed out by America-hating woke liberals, leaving “heritage Americans”—white, Christian, rural, right-wing—displaced in their own country. Order requires, he says, doing away with pluralism and the separation of church and state.

And then, there are the tech bros, who tell a story in which democracy is a bug, not a feature—and power should rest with those smart enough, rich enough, and fast enough to seize it.

 

And then, there is the story media is telling us. Daily, we are told we are a nation at war with itself, in deep polarization and discord. Americans, in this tale, all hate one another. We’re a nation of slavering jackals, at one another’s throats.

Do you buy any of these stories? No? Then what story do you buy? And what are you doing to make it come true?

 

It’s time to reclaim the storyline.

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Most Americans tell a very different story of who we are. Most Americans do not perceive the American story as one of tribes locked in endless conflict, but rather as one of a people who share basic values: fairness, decency, hard work, and mutual respect. Most Americans are exhausted by division and wary of extremes, and they want a country where people with differences can still live together, work together, and solve problems together.

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Though this is true, we are disconnected and in distress at the state of our nation. A great many of us feel angry at the way things are going in our country. But beneath that pain, for most of us, is a more tender feeling: grief. We mourn for the loss of civility and collective problem solving, loss of a government that serves the people. We have come to distrust our institutions and especially our politicians. Worse, we feel utterly unable to make things better.

 

We, the exhausted, reasonable majority, have gradually been separated from our sense of agency. We often feel used, let down, and exploited. Some of this is self-caused: Many of us don’t vote regularly, we consume politics as entertainment or try to avoid it altogether, and we often assume that meaningful change is the work of others.

 

Moving from despair to common experience.

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After 40 years of facilitating groups large and small, I just might have a means of generating some countervailing energy. I am prepared to offer a corrective, highly interactive, uplifting, and empowering learning experience. This experience is not a course, a program, or a training. It is a guided way of helping people, as they sit face-to-face to:

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• Name what is draining their energy and creating despair about our country.

• Understand how disengagement became normal.

• Reclaim a sense of agency by moving from spectator to active citizen.

• Identify concrete, energy-adding, inspiring ways they personally can work with others to improve our nation and strengthen democracy.

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The learning experience, which can be conducted with as few as three and as many as 200, is designed to be undertaken in congregations, book groups, classrooms, community organizations, or informal circles of friends. It emphasizes reflection, discussion, and practice over instruction. The goal is not agreement on policy, but clarity about responsibility.

 

As I give talks about my book, I usually say something like this: We do not have a polarization problem. We have a disconnection problem. We have a loss of agency problem. We have a spiritual despair problem. These uplifting, face-to-face sessions address each and all of this.​

 

Four questions guide the sessions.

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• What is the predominant story being told to you today about who we are as a nation?

• How do you feel while listening to this story? What actions result from hearing this story?

• What story better captures how you feel about who we are as a people and what our values are?

• What actions might you take to advance the American story you buy into?

 

The sessions leave participants with four conclusions.

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• How I feel about my country has a name. Its name is something like grief, upset, or worry. Putting words to my experience helps get me on the path to doing something about it.

• My country needs me and I can make a meaningful difference to make things better. As I do so, I am better off.

• Our country’s problems—even the very big ones—are solvable if enough of us work together to find solutions and insist that elected officials do, too.

• When we the people join with others to improve neighborhoods, communities, and our nation, these things improve and so does our mental health.

 

These gatherings are more than conversations; they function as an incubator of ideas where people can surface possibilities, test them, and find others to work with as agents of change.

 

Which story will we live?

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The question before us is not which story is loudest, but which story we will choose to live. Will we live the story of Donald Trump or the Christian nationalists or Mark Zuckerberg? Self-governing people should not and need not be defined by the narratives imposed upon them. They can and should be defined by the actions of ordinary people who tell the story of our nation through what they do together.

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If we are, in fact, a people who value fairness, the rule of law, pluralism, decency, and mutual respect, then the work of citizenship in this moment is to make that story visible again—locally, concretely, and collectively. If and as we do this, the future of this country will not be determined by the most extreme voices, as it is now, but by We The People. These experiences help make that possible.

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Please join us.

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Please join us to explore what it means to be an American at a time of worry, anxiety, grief, and anger about our country. Discuss with others how we can transform those feelings into hopeful action to rewrite our country’s story.

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The session is designed to help you feel more hopeful about our future and clearer about actions you can take—within the realities of your own life and responsibilities—to move things in the right direction. Not a lecture, deeper than a conversation, it’s a catalyst for renewed agency, connection, and meaningful civic engagement. Come ready to engage, listen, learn, and leave with renewed purpose.

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In this uplifting experience, you’ll reflect on the stories shaping our national life, hear the hopes of others, connect with others across differences, and rediscover a sense of shared purpose.

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Might your organization sponsor one of these workshops?

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If your organization might be interested in sponsoring one of these events, please contact us.

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