The Participation Problem

Hi friends,

I served on a jury once in my life when I was in my 20s. It was a drunk driving case. What I remember most wasn’t the case, it was the mood of all the potential jurors and jurors assigned to the case.

No one wanted to be there.

People were annoyed, looking for ways out and hoping for an excuse. And I remember thinking, “This is jury duty?!” This is one of the few places where ordinary people are asked to sit in the room and take responsibility for something bigger than themselves.

And we don’t want to. I didn’t want to either.

But this isn’t really about jury duty.

It’s about a pattern.

Church business meetings? Light turnout.
Town halls? Sparse attendance.
Civic groups? Declining membership.

At the same time, protest activity is up. Online engagement is constant. We will express. We will react. We will post. But when it comes to slow, unglamorous, shared responsibility, we kind of stink at it. 

We are emotionally engaged everywhere. But present? No, we’re not present.

Formation doesn’t happen in comment sections. It happens in rooms. Rooms where you can’t curate who shows up based on the latest algorithm. Rooms where you can’t broadcast your frustration and then shut down your account. Rooms where listening is required and outcomes are shared.

Formation.

And freedom without formation is quite fragile.

Today, we’ll look at what we lose when we trade participation for expression and why showing up, being present…matters.

🎧 Listen to Episode 165: “Are We Still Citizens?”

I’d love to hear your take. Have you ever avoided jury duty? Or served? Do you think civic participation is essential to the health of our country and communities, or has the way we live now made it feel unnecessary?

Come share your thoughts at the InSight Out Community on Facebook.

Have a blessed week!

Devin

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