My reading for today was from Mark 14:43-52. This was an “Imagine yourself in the scene” activity from last year’s retreat. I chose it today because I’ve been thinking about it all week. Two weeks ago, a few friends were laid off from work overnight - called in the evening and told not to show up for work the next day, and by the way, their accounts were already deactivated with no chance to hand over any of their outstanding work. Last week, more friends received emails about midday informing them that they had been laid off and they had half an hour for handover before their accounts would be deactivated. Still more friends will not know their fate until next week.
I work for the state department of health. These layoffs immediately followed the federal government’s decision to withhold “COVID” funds, citing nonsense about the COVID pandemic being over. First, the COVID pandemic is not over. Second, those funds were not just being used for COVID. They were funding desperately needed data infrastructure and disease surveillance improvements. Surveillance that included monitoring outbreaks of Measles, Bird Flu, and other infectious diseases.
In Minnesota, from what I understand, the two divisions most impacted by the loss of those funds were the infectious disease division and the data strategy and interoperability office, where I work. The loss of so many staff in these divisions has already started to adversely impact the work of local public health, tribal health, and the residents of Minnesota. We can only guess what the long-term impact will be as we struggle to stabilize existing infrastructure and maintain relationships.
I chose this reading, of Judas betraying Jesus, because I feel much like I imagine Jesus feels here, betrayed by someone he trusted and trying to remain calm and keep his followers calm. We have been betrayed by the federal government. We feel angry, but violence is not the answer. Like Jesus, we are watching decades of public health work crumble, hastened along by people wo do not value public health, who do not care about the marginalized, the very people Jesus and the prophets before him preached to protect. The federal government is trying to erase data on women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, and those experiencing environmental injustice, in short anyone who is not a rich white cisgender male. Jesus was not rich or white and 2000 years ago, the concept of cisgender did not exist.
In some apocryphal stories, Judas repented. I pray that the leaders of this country, like Judas, will one day realize and understand the harm they have caused. In the meantime, I pray that those of us left in public health can find ways to continue our work to protect and preserve the health of the people in our communities, especially those who are most marginalized.
The image below is of the cat I had in Uganda, Enshonga the terror, attacking the horse stable I had worked so hard to make. My goal that night was to take a photograph of my art to send home to my parents, but Enshonga had other ideas. Her wanton disregard for the hard work I put into my art fits the mood at work right now. Read more about this piece on deviantArt.
This post is part of my Lent 2025 Imaginative Readings series.
