Why “Onward Through the Fog”?

What is the meaning?

I love the phrase “Onward Through the Fog”. To me, it represents much of how we live our lives. Often, we don’t have a clear picture of what we are doing or where we are going in the future. But that’s ok!! We have ideas of where we want to go and what we want to do, but often we stumble about through life, hoping to find a path.

Sometimes the fog is thin and we get glimpses of a path so we can charge ahead. Other times, the fog is so thick we have no choice but to stand still and wait for it to pass. We listen for the foghorn and watch for the lighthouse, both of which can show us the way forward. When we finally pass out of the fog, we can see where we ended up, but not how we got there. Sometimes our arrival matches our desired destination, but many times we end up somewhere totally unexpected. Not bad, necessarily, just different.

This is how I see our country right now. There is a lot of chaos happening around us, stirring up lots of dust, obscuring our pathways. There is anger and fear, which lends additional muck to our vision. Thus, we struggle to find our way through this chaos. We fear where we may end up. We are scared and defensive and feel hopeless.

All we can do right now is to pay attention to what is going on. Be a foghorn or lighthouse to those drowning in the waves of fear and confusion. Help each other through the storms. And keep moving onward. Where this country ends up WILL NOT look the same as it did years ago. And that’s ok! We live in a dynamic society where change is always happening, with or without us.

This blog will hopefully hold out a bit of light to shine on what is happening at the federal (mostly) level. I will try to interpret the legalese of the published bills and rulings so you can be informed. In this digital age we are constantly under bombardment from every side with an opinion or bias. I promise to try to avoid my personal biases, but I’m human so that might not always happen. When a post is more about my opinions, I will label it such. Most posts will have a title regarding the law, memo, court ruling, etc and help explain what they mean, without cherry-picking from a particular viewpoint.

A short notice on my biases - I grew up Evangelical Christian in the Reagan years from a very strict Conservative viewpoint. Over time, I, as most of us do, developed my own views. I tend to be a Constitutionalist, state’s rights and Libertarian all mixed together, paired with looking out for those less fortunate through federal social programs. I believe in what the Founding Fathers established, but not necessarily the current interpretation by the party in power. Most of those in the Republican party do not match what I would consider true Conservatism. The pendulum has swung too far to the right. But I am not a thoroughly blue Democrat either. I’m in the middle of the spectrum, as are most of us. If you must throw me into a category, I tend to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I am also a member of the LGBTQ+ community, so that influences my thinking, too. I still consider myself a Christian, but it does not look anything like those in power express, rather it is modeled after the behaviour of Jesus himself and not in a legalistic way.

And, so, “Onward Through the Fog” is about perseverance through uncertainty and difficulty, much as our country is currently experiencing. “Onward Through the Fog” is about moving forward towards a brighter future despite many challenges facing us. “Onward Through the Fog” is about helping others through the fear and uncertainty.

Please, take my hand, and together let us move “Onward Through the Fog”.