11-06-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
November 6, 2024
The Day After! Some of you will remember the made-for TV movie from 1983 about a nuclear war. For its time, it was graphic and very realistic. It was mostly set in the Midwest, where I was living at the time. Of course, from its title, it did not focus only on the nuclear attack but the aftermath as well. Often, when we use the phrase ‘the day after,’ there is a sense of doom and despair. But it can also carry with it relief, hope, and the thought of a new dawn. 

I am writing this before the polls close on election day, and I do not know what the day after will bring. We may not know results when this Etching goes live, but I am mindful of the anxiety and fear many have been holding inside. The day after might find the worry and apprehension unchanged or maybe intensified. Or maybe you’ve been able to really exhale for the first time in months. Whatever the case, I want to suggest that we can do this better. Though I am a strong advocate for separation of church and state, I believe the church should speak on the topics of justice and mental health. We already have extraordinarily trustworthy elections, with a minuscule amount of fraud... and the system in place seems to catch it. But how do we make voting easier for everyone while also helping people feel as if their vote counts? The church can help provide a voice for those who do not feel as if they have a voice, while also speaking truth when false claims are made.

The mental health component is equally challenging, but the church and other faith communities could help ratchet down the hateful rhetoric. It is ok to be passionate, but what would it look like to have serious conversations on issues that rise above name-calling or simply using loaded words that are triggering but often useless in actually achieving any sort of understanding? What would it look like for people of faith to model a new way? We can have different opinions, yet in some cases, compromise not only provides a way forward but maybe a better way that had not previously been imagined. Of course, compromise requires conversation, and conversation requires space where everyone can feel heard, and if everyone is seeking to hear and be heard, then it requires us to lead with love. The church is supposed to be pretty good at that.

O God, you remain God no matter the day or the hour, but as we arise this day, we pray that we arise with a stronger commitment to what is possible. Continue to encourage us as we live into and model your great gift of love. Amen.