One Day More

Election Eve. Both sides are anticipating a celebration. I am afraid that won’t be coming tomorrow night, or even Wednesday morning. We have a long road ahead of us no matter what happens at the polls, time fraught with tension and fear and perhaps violence. So what do we do in the meantime?

These last few days, I have turned to prayer to help me deal with my unfocused anxiety. God invoked in politics is nothing new, I know that people on either side think that God is with them and that they are right. We would be arrogant to think otherwise. My prayers tonight are for my higher power to touch the hearts of people, hoping they will listen to the goodness in their hearts and choose people for office that will uplift the people they are swearing to represent.

So let me talk about the God I pray to, the one who, for me, represents goodness for every human. I believe that he/she wouldn’t want black people being murdered by people sworn to uphold the law. They wouldn’t want families who are escaping horrible situations to be torn apart at the border and children living locked up. They wouldn’t want people feeling less than because of who they authentically are. They wouldn’t want people living with hunger and homelessness. And they would want us to be kinder to each other. 

I am not placing blame here, looking at leaders whether they are Democrat or Republican, trying to figure out who wrote and voted for which policies who have gotten us where we are. Our country is in the dumpster, I think everyone can agree on that, whether you are focused on the economy or COVID or basic human rights. We are in a jam, and have been for many years. We need strong and compassionate leaders to help us out of this unholy mess. All of us, not just groups that have always experienced privilege. The under-represented and marginalized citizens deserve our attention and compassion and they deserve leaders who listen to them and vote to make their lives better. 

So please, God, look on your children tonight and give them the grace to do what they need to do in order to bring back grace and kindness and equality. Please help them to respond to each other with kindness and compassion. And give me the grace to look at my life of privilege and help me to figure out how to make our world a better place. Amen.