This has been a hard post to write.
It has required stepping back.
Questioning myself.
Examining my own bias.
Trying to see the bigger picture instead of reacting to the nearest fire.
And to be honest, it has required courage.
Because I am concerned.
And yes — at times, I am afraid.
Not in panic.
In the glowing embers of moral awareness.
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” — Thomas Jefferson
Greater are we — but not if we are divided.
And right now, we are deeply divided.
Everywhere I look, there is chaos.
Epstein files.
ICE incidents.
Immigration battles.
Human trafficking reports.
Claims of sleeper cells.
Tactical teams moving through neighborhoods.
Innocent people caught in the middle.
One crisis after another.
One fire here.
Another fire there.
No pause.
No clarity.
No resolution.
Just noise.
And while we argue over fragments of information, I keep asking:
Are we even looking in the right direction anymore?
Or are we being kept busy on purpose?
We are reacting constantly.
Speculating quickly.
Taking unfinished stories and turning them into weapons against one another.
Left against right.
Faith against faith.
Race against race.
Neighbor against neighbor.
We are so busy being right that we are losing the chance to be wise.
“Confusion is more dangerous than ignorance.” — George Orwell
A Nation in Emotional Overload
We are living in emotional overload.
This is not about weakness.
It is about biology.
When human beings live in nonstop stress, fear, and crisis, clear thinking declines. We become more reactive, more tribal, more exhausted, and less discerning.
A society that cannot think clearly cannot protect itself.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” — Proverbs 29:18
From Compassion to Numbness
At first, people care deeply.
They grieve.
They pray.
They speak up.
But when tragedy becomes constant, outrage becomes exhaustion. Compassion becomes numbness. Concern becomes scrolling.
Not because people are heartless.
Because they are overwhelmed.
This is desensitization.
This is moral fatigue.
This is compassion exhaustion.
And numb people are easier to govern than courageous ones.
When We Only Fight Fires
Every day brings another wildfire.
Another missing person.
Another violent incident.
Another traumatized family.
These matter.
They deserve attention.
But when we spend all our energy running from fire to fire, we never step back to see the full landscape.
We stay in emergency mode.
Surviving.
Reacting.
Exhausted.
And while we are distracted, deeper structures are forming quietly beneath our division.
That is how societies shift.
Not in one dramatic collapse.
But through constant crisis.
History’s Quiet Pattern
Authoritarian systems rarely appear overnight.
They grow in stages.
Through fear.
Through division.
Through exhaustion.
Through weakened accountability.
Through centralized power.
Through discouraged dissent.
People are not conquered.
They are worn down.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana
Germany did not wake up and choose tyranny.
Freedom was surrendered.
In pieces.
How Freedom Is Surrendered
Freedom is rarely taken all at once.
It is usually surrendered slowly.
Privacy traded for convenience.
Speech chilled by social pressure.
Due process weakened.
Parental authority eroded.
Medical autonomy limited.
Economic dependence increased.
Civic participation declined.
The vulnerable systemized.
Each step seemed reasonable.
Until it wasn’t.
When Stories Become Patterns
Across our country, there are documented cases, court records, investigative reports, and firsthand testimonies of people harmed within systems meant to protect them.
And in many cases, there has been loss of life through collateral damage.
These are not rumors.
They are public records.
They are human stories.
Families of disabled children.
Elderly citizens in care facilities.
Homeless individuals criminalized and displaced.
Veterans struggling to access care and stability.
Parents fighting bureaucracy.
Survivors of trafficking ignored for years.
These are not isolated incidents.
Many are ongoing.
Human trafficking has not ended.
Institutional abuse has not disappeared.
Exploitation still exists.
Neglect still occurs.
And in documented cases, many responsible have been individuals within systems sworn to protect.
That is not speculation.
That is what investigations and courts have revealed.
Which is why accountability matters.
When systems grow distant, people become paperwork.
And paperwork does not bleed.
People do.
We Are Fighting Each Other Instead of the Problem
So much of our energy is spent fighting one another.
Arguing.
Accusing.
Shaming.
Dividing.
Meanwhile, deeper problems remain untouched.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” — Mark 3:25
Evil does not fear divided people.
It fears united ones.
A Call to Self-Examination
Here is the uncomfortable truth.
We are part of this.
Every time we spread fear without verifying.
Every time we dehumanize.
Every time we choose outrage over wisdom.
Healing begins with self.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart.” — Psalm 139:23
The Questions That Matter
Who benefits from our outrage?
Why are we more connected and less united?
What am I being trained to accept as normal?
Am I building solutions — or feeding conflict?
Are we asking the right questions?
Or are we being led?
Choosing Wisdom
Emotion is human.
But it must not lead.
We can pause.
We can pray.
We can verify.
We can reflect.
We can think.
“Be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry.” — James 1:19
Remembering What Was Paid For
Our veterans did not fight for a numb, fearful, disengaged society.
They fought for a thinking, courageous, free people.
“When we forget what it cost, we forget why it matters.”
My Personal Reflection
As a child, sitting in classrooms and learning history, learning what America stood for, learning how our nation crossed borders to help others fight tyranny and injustice, I never imagined I would one day sit in the middle of the United States and see reflections of what we once stood against.
I never imagined watching division replace unity.
Fear replace courage.
Silence replace conscience.
We were taught, “Never again.”
We believed it.
And yet here we are, watching familiar patterns emerge.
History does repeat itself.
But it does not have to.
It only does when people stop paying attention.
My Hope
My hope is simple.
That we slow down.
That we listen better.
That we choose unity over ego.
That we choose courage over comfort.
Truth requires discipline.
Freedom requires vigilance.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.” — 2 Timothy 1:7
May we be people of sound minds.
Tender hearts.
Strong spines.
And steady faith.
Because if we do not learn to stand back to back…
One day we will wake up and ask:
How did this happen?
And the answer will be:
We did. It all happened while we were too busy looking the wrong way.
With prayerful discernment and a grounded heart,
I choose to pause before reacting, to seek truth before repeating, and to pray before forming conclusions. I refuse to surrender my conscience to noise, my voice to outrage, or my faith to fear. In a loud world, I choose clarity. In a divided world, I choose wisdom. And in uncertain times, I commit to “test everything and hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). May we learn to see clearly, love deeply, and walk wisely.
— Tina N. Campbell | Scribed in Light
Scribed In Light 
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