Skimming through an editorial in the New York Times this afternoon, I noticed with a start that election day is in six weeks. Six weeks! It seemed like the primary season would never end, and so it seems like the election never will either—but it will end, and very soon. I have to admit that I am completely drawn into the circus. With simultaneous excitement and groaning, I can’t wait to hear the next outlandish thing—God’s will is for a gas pipeline? Outrageous!— They spent how much on that jacket?! And I get so upset at what seem to me to be clearly unfair attacks at “my” candidate. It is a little like being 14 years old: a roller coaster of emotion of high and low, with a pretty distant relationship to reality.
The problem, of course, is that it trivializes the whole process. Talking about Michele Obama’s dress or Sarah Palin’s glasses distracts us from what’s going on, but like a moth to flame, here we all are. There is so much at stake in this election—our nation’s response to the climate crisis, the chaos in our economy, the future of American engagement in the world—this is not a little thing.
This election, as all elections do, comes down to our values. Not the media stereotype of “values voters” that we heard about in 2004, some amorphous group supposedly motivated by their antipathy to same sex marriage, but the real values of our Christian faith. What kind of world do we want to live in? What hard choices are we willing to make? Will we avoid easy answers to our problems if it means protecting the environment? Will we take the risk of dialogue over rushing to war? Who will be on the Supreme Court, and what historic decisions will they make? Do we phrase our hopes for our world in terms of fighting “them” (whoever “they” happen to be at the moment) or do we believe that God’s dream of peace can actually be realized? That’s the will of God that I’m looking to serve.
I know that all of us in our parish community don’t agree on the issues. We would not be much of a community if the world looked the same to each one of us. In my sermon on Sunday, I shared a prayer for us to be able to hold our opinions as you might hold a bird in your hand. Hold on too tightly, and its fragile wings are crushed. Hold on too loosely, and the bird flies away. What’s hard is that we have to hold our opinions and fight for them, but not fight against our brothers and sisters who disagree with us. The troubling thing in this election is that that we seem to be doing exactly the opposite. The campaigns fight each other on personality, not policy. Rather than respecting each other and entering into a dialogue on what’s actually going on in our country, we are threatening each other and not talking at all about our situation—and time is short. Let’s pray for campaigns that address our need for a just, peaceful, and secure society, not our desire for more gossip.
Here’s the prayer for our Nation from the Book of Common Prayer—a little “traditional” sounding, but lovely.
Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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