Brooks' Sermon 6: Have Faith

### Description

In her sixth and final sermon to the True Sons, as they near the end of their journey north, Skyler Brooks reminds them of the importance of keeping the faith

### Speaker(s)

Skyler Brooks

**Brooks:** My True Sons. Welcome, all of you. As I'm sure you're well aware, by tomorrow we will have reached Baltimore, our new home until such a time as we might march back and reclaim D.C., securing our rightful place as rulers of this great country. Ridgeway would be proud of all of you. *I* am proud of all of you. You have displayed remarkable courage, brotherhood, and fortitude during these difficult days. I have no doubt those strengths will become vital in the months to come.

**Brooks:** Each night of this exodus away from the past and towards our collective future, I have imparted onto you several important lessons. Tonight will be no different. In fact, tonight's words will probably be the most important I have spoken to you since that fateful day at steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

**Brooks:** Often when I speak of the New America, when I speak about the need for us all to work towards its grand ideals, I ask you to put aside your doubts, your longing to question, and have faith. But does that mean? What does it truly mean to have faith? I'd like to answer that question, by asking you to reflect on something.

**Brooks:** Think about where you were eight months ago. Before the world fell apart, neighbor turned on neighbor, and we watched the institutions that swore to protect us crumble and flee like cowards. More than that, think about your life. Where you were. What you've done. Did it give you purpose? Did you feel...fulfilled? Or did you, as I did, feel lost? Abandoned, rejected, cast aside by the world? Adrift in a sea of uncertainty, worry, and doubt?

**Brooks:** It's natural to try and find meaning in our lives. Try to make sense, find order. But we can't. Because the sad truth is...life doesn't have order. Life has chaos. Life is pain and loss and tragedy. We are born into a cruel world that feeds on our suffering. And after it has had its fill, we are discarded. No cares about us. No one sees us. *(pause)* No one remembers us.

**Brooks:** But that's not the way it has to be. This virus, as cruel and senseless as it is, and as much equal violence and misery as it has wrought, has given us a chance to change that cycle of suffering. We can build something better from the ashes of a wicked, corrupt, greedy society that prioritized status, wealth and power over charity, family, and community. The True Sons are the only ones who not only see what can be done, but have the will and the strength to achieve it.

**Brooks:** The only way we can do that...is to have faith. Faith in our cause. Faith in the future. And faith in each other. Faith is what carries us through crisis and uncertainty and the relentless, punishing chaos of life. Someday, we shall die. And our flesh will rot and our bones will turn to dust. In time, even our names and faces will be lost. But our faith? Our faith will be what remains. It will live on in the hearts of our brothers and sisters. It will inspire those we've left behind to continue our fight, and maintain the everlasting peace that our hard work and sacrifice will one day create. It will be our legacy.

**Brooks:** And when the New America arrives? Future generations will thrive because of what we achieved. Our children and their children and all of our descendants will know a future of peace, plenty, and prosperity. Because we had faith in our cause, and with that faith in our hearts we achieved what everyone else said was impossible.

**Brooks:** I am not asking you to put your trust in me. I am asking you to put your trust in my words. Believe in those words, believe in each other. Never lose faith. And we will accomplish things greater than you can possibly imagine. Thank you, my True Sons. Goodnight to you all. I look forward to the great future that awaits us.