January 2025

Her pause.  Her moment of taking a breath. I cannot stop thinking about it. Watching the time stream on my video feed, she takes ten seconds.

Bishop Budde took ten seconds to gather her courage. To step into bearing witness.

Since the moment I saw the video of Bishop Budde expressing her plea for the most vulnerable at the inaugural prayer service, I find myself considering her decision with deep awe.  It took ten seconds for Bishop Budde to summon the courage to gird herself to humbly confront the most powerful person on the planet.

Bishop Budde gave us the gift of one way to live out the Gospel.

The breath was a moment of preparing to step into the unknown, a moment of stepping out on faith.

The backlash has been enormous. It will get worse because this group newly in power does not forget and they believe in retribution.

That i’s why I find the breath was so important.  She understood the call of the Gospel.  It may have taken her breath away.  Watching her, It took mine away. She checked herself and heard Jesus’ invitation, “Follow me.” At that moment, Bishop Budde responded with “I will follow.”