Rufus Jones, a Quaker mystic and philosopher, tells the story of being on a boat trip in the midst a thick fog. He writes:

The range of visibility was extremely short. The ship crept along cautiously, feeling its way and sounding the foghorn at frequent intervals. The horn had no note of joy or triumph. It was a sound only of fear and warning. Every other ship in the neighborhood was a menace and each ship in turn was afraid of us. But while the fog lasted our ship was concerned almost wholly for its own safety. The noises it made were for its own protection, and the lower the visibility dropped, the more worried everyone became for the safety of the ship to which we had committed our destiny…

There was no sky over us, no horizon, no color, no beauty, no proper world. If we were always doomed to live in a fog-bound world we should never know that a sun existed or a moon or the stars.

He goes on: But this condition of low visibility may very well become a parable of the spiritual climate through which we have been passing.

Jones wrote these words in 1937 in the aftermath of the Depression and the lead-up to World War II, but they could have been written today in 2025. We are living in the midst of a stormy fog of Executive orders, dissembling governmental departments and programs that have existed for decades. Thousands of people have lost their jobs and funds supporting programs for people in need in this country and around the world have been frozen. The president talks of taking over Gaza and deporting the Palestinian residents who call Gaza home. He buddies up to Vladamir Putin and dismisses Ukrainian President Zelensky as a dictator and initiator of Russia’s war against Ukraine. He insults U.S. Allies and threatens longtime trading partners with tariffs. Each day brings news of another atrocity he has proposed and initiated.

Many people are afraid of what will happen next and worried about how they will manage in the midst of this political fog. The fear is understandable. We don’t know what to expect next. Like Jones on his boat, we are moving forward in the fog with no sense of safety or security.

Staying with the metaphor of the fog, Jones writes

The time has come for the projection of a path of light that will clear away the fog, open up the sky, rediscover the stars and reveal to awakened observers that there is a celestial luminary which our self-made fogs have too long concealed from us. The greatest fog-dispelling contrivance that has ever been found for crises like this one is a new burst of moral enthusiasm, the driving energy of spiritual passion.

While fear is understandable, it is not the only response we can have. We have a conscience fed by our sense of right and wrong whether it is rooted in our spiritual beliefs or our commitment to basic human rights. Jones then notes another resource because he knows we cannot dispel fogs only by human efforts. He adds:

But after all the important factor is the cosmic drive against the fog, which affects what people with all their powers could never do. The sun fights from above. The shifts of temperature doom it. The currents of air and sea settle its fate. The tiny crystals of salt from the spray carry it away in little globules of rain. A few moments ago, we were immersed in it and now the blue sky is over us.

Jones concludes by saying we can clear the fog and find our way with renewed moral and spiritual courage and the cosmic drive of God’s Spirit will help us find our way. In an earlier blog I suggested that like Dr. King said, we must meet the forces of violence and distraction with soul force. Soul force is our added weapon against the intended efforts of the current administration’s desire to inject fear and chaos into our national life.

Even now small signs of fog-lifting forces are emerging. Choose Democracy holds a one minute of silence every Wednesday at 11:53. On February 28 a national boycott has been called against all stores and organizations that have caved to Trump’s attack on DEI. Lawsuits against the work of Elon Musk’s DOGE have been submitted. Marches and demonstrations across the country have been organized against Trump and Musk’s ravaging of democracy. And more.

I find inspiration and courage in Rufus Jones’ reflections on the fog he faced in his day. We face a fog in ours, but it can be dispersed with God’s help and guidance and our efforts. So let us not give in to our fear. Let us clear the air. Let us challenge and disperse the fog