Truth is I started thinking about this early yesterday morning--long before results starting coming in. My son was driving me to work for 7 am Eucharist and we were talking about what we thought might happen. He said, "Do you remember when I was in 1st grade and went over to _____'s house and they had a dart board with the picture of the president on it?" "Yes, I remember." I answered amazed he remembered. "I remember you told me whether you like the president or not you always respect the office of the presidency." I looked over at my son and saw the little boy we talked to that day all those years ago, but I also saw the man he is becoming. A man with his own opinions, his own ideologies, his own faith. I realized while I could guide him, he was no longer a little boy who would go along with whatever I said, so I took a deep breath and said, "And I still believe that." He stared straight ahead and quietly answered, "I do too."
Over the next few hours several things happened. First during both Eucharist and Bible study we read the scriptures for this up coming Sunday. One verse from the Gospel seemed to leap off the page, "This will give you an opportunity to testify." (Luke 21:13) And second I kept getting texts from the babies talking about how at school everyone was screaming at each other, using profanity and just all in all being unkind. I commented to my parish administrator and a very, very wise woman, "Who thought it was a good idea to send a bunch of know it all teenagers to school on the day of such a contentious election?" She shrugged and said, "Beats me."
Throughout yesterday with these things running around my brain, I started making notes for my sermon on Sunday. I started thinking and praying about how we are called to testify to God's unfailing love for everyone and that everyone means everyone--something I'm not sure we can always really comprehend, and something I'm sure we can only rarely attain in deed. Sometimes, frankly, I wonder if it's easier to think about it in terms of God loving the forgotten, the poor and the destitute than it is to think about God loving the wealthy, the powerful and the privileged? There are so many places in scripture where God calls us to love the widow, the orphan and the stranger; there are so many places where we see Jesus standing with the disgraced woman, the lowly children, the outcasts. Honestly these are the places that resonate most fully with me; these are the scriptures that I turn to time and time again to draw strength. These are the scriptures that propel me to march with my LGBTQ brothers and sisters, that propel me to stand in solidarity with the people of Standing Rock, that propel me to support ministries on the borders, that propel me to visit those in hospitals and in prisons and on street corners.
I suspected the days after the election were going to be hard for so many people, people on both "sides" and I knew I had to preach on what it means to come together and that we as a church are called to bear witness, to testify to the unifying power of God's love and grace despite election outcomes. And perhaps specifically in The Episcopal Church where we strive to be open minded, tolerant, and broad (and perhaps even pride ourselves on it...) I knew I had to, have to, preach on what it means to stand in solidarity as Christians regardless of our political beliefs, regardless of who holds the office of the presidency or controls congress or the Supreme Court. I knew I had to preach on putting actions to our words--actions of loving one another and yes actions in the world--standing with the oppressed, giving voice to the voiceless--those things cannot stop. They must not stop. I'll be very honest; I thought I would be preaching with a different election outcome, but I would preach the same thing. That sermon still needs to be written, but today I must answer my friend....
I have seen on social media the joy, the pride, the pain, the anger, the astonishment, the fear that isn't just oozing but rather is spewing--so many words of hatred but also some words of hope. And I've seen it from both sides. I've never shied away from transparency so I'll say what breaks my heart and brings me to tears the most is reading about the fear in the LGBTQ community, the other faith communities, the people of color communities, and I know I will personally and as a priest in God's church do as my friend posted, "I will continue fighting for my LGBTQ friends, and friends of color and those that need medical care and want to make choices about their own bodies and those of other religions and from other countries."
I have read what some of my friends and colleagues are doing today, taking a break from social media, running, reading, gathering for prayer...me, I am writing. I suspect I would be writing today regardless of the outcome of the election--the division isn't one sided...
This morning William came into the living room as I was saying Morning Prayer. He said, "not my president is trending." I looked up and said, "I hope you won't participate in that. In January Donald Trump will be our president no matter what anyone hashtags. And William, just like I don't want 'locker room' talk in our home...." He interrupted, "I know Mama, I know."
Not 20 minutes later I got a text from Caroline, "Can I come home? I hate everyone. Everyone's just yelling at each other." If you know me, you know my Mama Bear wanted to say, "yes come home" but instead I texted back, "Hold your head up. Remember who you are. This is where we get to put into practice God loves everyone no exceptions."
So here I sit and I suppose the only answer I have to my friend's text is to turn to my spiritual language--recognizing it is not everyone's spiritual language or even the best spiritual language for everyone, but it is mine. In The Episcopal Church we say "our praying shapes our believing" and we believe in common (meaning community) prayer. And so I turn to the Book of Common Prayer...
The Suffrages for Morning Prayer say:
V. Show us your mercy, O Lord;
R. And grant us your salvation.
V. Clothe your ministers with righteousness;
R. Let your people sing with joy.
V. Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
R. For only in you can we live in safety
V. Lord, keep this nation under your care;
R. And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
V. Let your way be known upon earth;
R. Your saving health among all nations.
V. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
R. Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
V. Create in us clean hearts, O God;
R. And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.
(BCP, 97-98)
And we are asked in baptism and each time we reaffirm our baptism: Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God? | |
| Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God? Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God? Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior? Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love? Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord? Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the honor and dignity of every human being? The question now becomes how do we live them out? How do we come together and bear witness to God's unfailing love, grace and mercy? I don't have the answers--and I think as a white heterosexual woman of privilege my answers are probably nowhere near adequate, but I believe in the communion of saints--of all saints, and I believe in the goodness of humanity and the power of God's love. And I want to hear people, all people--people who share my faith, people who have other faiths, and people who have no faith at all--I want to be part of the coming together and not the continued division. And I believe and pray over and over the words of Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, or things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation , will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." It's not much, but it's all I've got...thanks for asking. |
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