People who know me in 2026 may not know that in 1996, I was a cheerleader.

I was a toe-touching, split-popping, megaphone yelling, orange and gray varsity jacket wearing, whole cheerleader.

Coolidge High School’s athletics program was housed in a beautiful gymnasium called the Frank Williams Activity Center, which they say could accommodate thousands of people.  Under those bright lights and on those shiny floors, we would cheer on the junior varsity boys, varsity girls, and varsity boys basketball teams—and in that order.  Our girls were the best.  They were highly ranked and regularly played in city title games.

The boys were scrappy, and tried hard, but sometimes let their enthusiasm outpace their skills and their better judgment.  One time, we saw one player steal a ball from his own teammate.  Imagine now, a dozen girls (and me) shouting “Y’all on the same team!!” in unison.

When the Team Forgets the Team

2026 feels very much like 1996 in that way.  Whether by design or by collective negligence, we are in a state of tizzy. And when you get to be in a tizzy, you forget who your teammates are.  We steal the ball from one another.  We snipe at each other on social media.  We attack one another when we seek joy, then attack one another for not doing enough.

This echoes Paul’s image of the body in 1 Corinthians 12. These scriptures discuss how different parts work together as a team.  Verses 15 through 20 say:

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

This week, I had a conversation with staff members of the American Humanist Association.  Many Quakers in North America are also humanists, but I am not one of them.  In this conversation, we discussed some exciting programming that they have coming soon.  I hopefully will get to share more of that with you soon.  In talking with them, I was reminded that we do not have to agree philosophically to see one another as part of the same larger work.

In this meeting, I also considered that our friends the humanists have a role to play just as Quakers do.  Baptists have a role to play just as Muslims do.  The politicians have their role, as do judges, corporate executives, police, children, gardeners, dancers, activists, and so on.

Remembering the Body

We are all part of the body of humanity.  Some would say we are all the church, or we are all the body of Christ.

We have got to get it together. The world does not get easier if we do nothing.  The world gets worse if we are working against each other.  Maybe we try a little trust…a little leading with curiosity rather than accusation.  Maybe we try less sarcasm and more compassion.

Maybe—just maybe—we try understanding that life in this world right now is hard, and it’s not just hard for one person, or one group of people. We are experiencing unhealed trauma of surviving a global pandemic and then going back to normal, and we are enduring the ongoing trauma of everything else happening in this world.

In understanding that, maybe we’ll be less inclined to steal the ball, and more inclined to play the roles that align with our spiritual gifts—whatever they may be.