by the Very Rev. Jered Weber-Johnson
Today is Election day. For many if not most of us, there’s been a hope, just below the surface, that this day would mark the end of this vicious election cycle, the hateful rhetoric, the amplification of division, and what for many has felt ominous and troubling. But, if we are honest, we know that today is not the end. While the political ads may go off the air, whatever the outcome, this election merely underscores just how divided we feel as a people, and just how deep the problems we face run. And, please don’t get me wrong, this election, like many before it, is very important. The candidates could not have been more different, and the choice more stark. The outcome of what happens today will echo in our world for a long time after we’re gone.
And, the sense of anger and anxiety that has lingered throughout this election cycle is real. The possibility of violence, hurt, and further division, no matter the outcome today, might be leaving many of us with a sense of despair or even hopelessness. But, as Marjorie Grevious reminded us this past Sunday, “I believe as Christians and people of faith we are being called to a time such as this…as a fellow American and Christian sibling I strongly urge you to take part in the democratic process of our country.” Voting must be a part of a faithful response to this moment. But, she continued, we must not despair, we can and should put our trust in God who empowers us to live lives of faithfulness and service, to help those most in need, and to solve the world’s greatest problems. Our call, she concluded, as Christians, at all times, is “to seek justice, to love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.”
Today marks the beginning of the work of faithfulness in whatever world greets us tomorrow. The good work so many of you did, to face into your anxieties by supporting a politics of hopefulness and care for the oppressed and those on the margins, donating to your candidate, in efforts to get out the vote, and especially in making a plan to vote, are all acts of deep faithfulness. And, now we must prepare to act again. No matter the outcome, the work continues. By God’s grace, and the power of the Holy Spirit, together we can face into the challenges that come next, defending the poor, working for racial justice, standing against violence in our communities, speaking out for immigrants, women, and our LGBTQ+ neighbors, and so much more, living the love that Jesus proclaimed and that is so needed in each new generation.
The late poet and spiritual essayist John O’Donohue knew this well, writing in To Bless the Space Between Us, a blessing “For Citizenship”:
We have become converts
To the religion of stress
And its deity of progress
That we may have courage
To turn aside from it all
And come to kneel down before the poor,
To discover what we must do,
How to turn anxiety
Back into anger,
How to find our way home.
Dear siblings in Christ, I hope you vote today (or already have) as if the lives of those we love and yet who by no choice of their own inhabit identities that are always the target of the powerful depend on it. Vote, and mobilize others to do the same. And then, tomorrow, let the same urgency mobilize you into anger if necessary, and certainly to action, to find our way back home, to a world where love reigns, generosity guides us, and where service and hope is manifest in our politics, in our communities, and certainly in our church.
If you’d like to hear how we’re aiming to respond as a church on Day 1, read more here.
Prayer Resources for Election Day
At St. John’s: our Morning Prayer ministry is a place where parishioners can come together in a convenient online space for prayers for the country and the election. You are invited to join in this morning at 8am online on Facebook followed by a coffee hour on Zoom.
Within the East Metro Mission Area: the sanctuary at Messiah Episcopal Church will be open for quiet meditation and prayer today from 9am-11pm. The Rev. Dave Langille will lead Evening Prayer at 6pm, then Compline every hour on the hour from 7-10pm.
Nationwide: the Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations invites you to join Episcopalians across the country in Election Night Virtual Prayers from 7-9pm Central Time. New Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe will offer an opening reflection and prayer before we hold silence and pray together for peace, the nation, and all people and countries. Join the event via Zoom by registering here, or watch a livestream on Facebook.
Almighty God, to whom we must account for all our powers and privileges: Guide the people of the United States in the election of officials and representatives; that, by faithful administration and wise laws, the rights of all may be protected and our nation be enabled to fulfill your purposes; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
