Dear friends,

This month marks 100 days into Donald Trump’s return to the presidency. If you’ve felt like those 100 days have carried the emotional weight of a decade, you’re not alone.

It’s not just presidential actions. Every day brings another news alert, another reason to feel that familiar knot tighten in the stomach. The economy is volatile. Institutions we once trusted seem either broken or breaking. Even in our churches, a sense of unease hums beneath the surface. 

And beneath this anxiety, I suspect something deeper is at work: a profound sense of feeling adrift. These feelings – in you and in me, too – are not arising because we’ve lost our convictions, but because those convictions feel less and less commonplace with each passing day. One of the most common things I read in my inbox? “Curtis, am I crazy? Am I the only one left?!”

This is a deeply disorienting season – and it’s exactly why I’m so looking forward to an event we’re hosting on April 30th – a live recording of the Good Faith Podcast with two friends and fellow After Party co-founders, David French and Russell Moore. 

The three of us will reflect together on Trump’s first 100 days back in office – but more importantly, we’ll explore what kind of presence Christians are called to embody in the world in this disorienting season.

I use the word “presence” intentionally because our role in the world isn’t just to support or oppose platforms or policies or even entire approaches to governing. Christian presence in the world is deeper than all of that. It is about how we show up. How we treat others. How we live as people of hope in times of fear. How we lean into real, embodied community when so much seems ephemeral. 

If you’re looking for a space to process this moment with thoughtfulness and humility, we hope you’ll join us. You can learn more and RSVP here.

And whether or not you can make it, a gentle reminder for us all: If national events feel overwhelming or far out of reach, that’s because, frankly, they are. But we aren’t powerless. We can still show up for the widows and orphans among us. Still attend a school board meeting. Still advocate for clean water or volunteer with our church’s youth group. These acts may not trend on social media, but they are acts of faithfulness. And they’re far more within our reach than we often believe.

I don’t have a promise that “everything will be OK” to offer – at least not in the way the world defines it. But I do believe there are meaningful paths forward for those of us who are willing to walk in hope and humility. The After Party, this live podcast event, and everything we do at Redeeming Babel is meant to support you in that walk. We hope you’ll keep walking with us.

With you in hope and humility,

Curtis