Election Day is less than two weeks away. On November 5, votes across the country will be cast and counted to determine who will lead in government at the local, state and national levels. There is so much on the line. We need to give voice to the weight of the moment, and also to our shared anxiety about an outcome that is uncertain. I feel it. And I know you feel it.
Today, amidst these final days of the campaign season, I write with a few reminders and two invitations.
1. Remember our core commitments as the people of St. Michael’s: We live in love, we manifest joy, we embrace resilience, and we seek justice. These values motivate, animate, and activate our life and ministry together as we seek to be faithful in an ever-evolving political climate. While our work can change through an ever-evolving political climate, our reasons for being and our goals for acting remain constant. Hold our values!
2. We are better together. We can’t let fear, discouragement, or disappointment, overconfidence, relief, or celebration dissuade us from sticking together as a community of prayer, mutual affection, and service. There are precious few peoples and places like ours in the world—where all are embraced and celebrated, where hope is held, where action is mobilized to renew and restore society. Stick with one another, and keep walking together!
3. Faith has a place in all of this. I often talk about my faith as, in large part, a determination to believe there has to be something better than what we’ve got so far. That old axiom in systems theory: a system is perfectly designed to yield the results you are already getting. In faith, I keep seeking, studying, experimenting and striving to find better ways of being human in the world. If what we’ve got is all there is, then I give up! But in faith, I don’t accept that defeat and I keep pressing on. Keep faith and keep going!
4. Do your part! We have a democracy, if we can keep it. (This isn’t quite what Benjamin Franklin said at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, but I think it’s close enough for this year!) Let us educate ourselves, take the time to study elections and measures up and down the ballot, and cast reasoned votes. At the national level, and also here locally, our city and state and nation face pressing concerns for justice, compassion, health, and safety; we should be engaged active participants in the election process. Vote!
Finally, I want to extend two invitations to gather and pray on either side of Election Day. For all the reasons above – leaning on our values, sticking together, stirring up faith, and getting out to vote – we’ll hold space together for prayer.
On Monday, November 4, Election Eve, I invite us together for an Election Eve Vigil at the church, 7:00 pm. It will be a bilingual offering for our whole parish community, stirring faith, centering our values, and lifting hope for God’s good dream to come true in the world through our active participation. The liturgy for this gathering will be more formal, guided by words of the Book of Common Prayer, with time set aside for personal prayers in the quiet of our hearts or by giving voice.
On Wednesday, November 6, the church will be open for an informal gathering for sharing and mutual support from 10-11:00 am, and for a special noonday liturgy from 12:00-12:30 pm.
In all of this, know that I am with you, and we are with one another in these uncertain times.
Scott+
The Rev. R. Scott Painter, Rector
Email: ScottP@stmaa.org
