I’m writing this post about 50 hours before the polls open on Tuesday. I write everything below without knowing who has won because it applies regardless of the outcome.
Theoretically this morning we know who won the Presidential race. I have high hopes that last night someone clearly won and someone else conceded. Regardless of how we feel about the outcome of last night’s race, the history of the peaceful transfer of power in this country is something to be incredibly grateful for.
But where do we go from here? Much of this country is unhappy with the outcome. Even if we voted for the winning candidate, many of us aren’t thrilled with the choices of candidates we had in the first place. And it’s going to be tempting for us to decide that the next four years are lost. That we we’ll just grin and bear the next 1,460 days until the next election when we can hopefully redeem our country. I’m sure there will be many doomsday predictions on our social media accounts today.
Instead, let’s remember that, “In a very undramatic way, people can do much to prevent corruption in politics, as in other areas of life. They must have courage to live up to their own principles, to stand firmly by what they believe.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt in You Learn by Living
And this may seem pointless. After all, what can we, mere citizens, do when Washington seems beyond fixing?
Well, we can live out what we are calling others to do. We can remember that POTUS isn’t the one sitting at our dining room table showing our kids right from wrong day in and day out. We can remember that it’s our rhetoric our children carry with them to the playground each day.
We can refuse to give into fear because “Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, `It can’t be done.'” ~Eleanor Roosevelt in You Learn by Living
We can remember we have a God who sees, who hears, who cares. And because we have a God who sees, hears, and cares we don’t have to be afraid.
We can live in freedom and joy. We can practice gratitude. We can get to know people who are different than us. We can get out of our comfort zones and try to understand other perspectives. We can refuse to compromise on kindness. We can be more concerned about the Gospel of grace than who is in political power. We can love each other like Christ loves us.
Good news! We can love God and love each other no matter who is in political power.
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