A Virtual Church

5 Days Out

October 29, 2020

As I checked out at the Food Lion today, a young Black woman checking out my order, said to me, “ I like your button.” I was wearing my "Women Vote" button. I have had 500 of them printed since 2018. Anytime anybody comments on it, I give them one… or 10. Some of my family hate it; I do it anyhow. The young woman said to me that her son questioned why she wanted to vote. Her child told her, “Only old people vote.” She told him that he was wrong; voting was especially important this year. I checked out with a hopefulness that felt good. We shared a hopeful moment that this election in 5 days could change the course and heal the harms of the last 4 years.

Genesis 1 tells the story of creation. God swept over the waters. God separated the light from the dark. God breathed creation into being and that includes us humans. Out of dust we are created because God breathed. Only once a year we remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return. How is such hubris born of dust? Oh, yes, the Garden. Blind obedience versus free will. Guess which one God gave us? And look at what we do with it.

The most important election of my lifetime is going on right now. There are 5 days until Election Day 2020. I have watched presidents since Dwight Eisenhower. Some have been better than others. Some have been orators. Some strategists. Some have had extra-marital affairs. Some have walked to Sunday School to teach a class. None of them have been as publicly vile and despicable as our current president, Donald Trump.

We saw him for years as a brash, conceited, corrupt, bully, businessman and television reality personality. Even in 2016 when he was running for office, his character was indecent and incendiary as he mocked people and called them petty, ugly names, just like a schoolyard bully would. Then he got elected. I prayed he would grow into the gravitas of the Office of the Presidency. He has not.

In the book of Esther, there is a verse that says we are called to times like this for purpose and for good. There are 5 days for us to stand up for good, for decency, and for a return to empathy and compassion. We all need to VOTE. And we need to vote for change and a deep breath of peace and quiet. We need to VOTE for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and enough Democrats to change the Senate and hopefully break the logjam that has become our government. Perhaps over 4 years of relative calm, we will capture a new vision for this nation. Maybe hate can be tamped down and ugliness be put back in a box while we work on the real issues that plague us: Covid-19, health care, climate change, jobs, education, voting rights, racism, justice and inequity.

I know the dissing that will come with my posting this piece. The negative comments will be listed under my post or spoken behind my back. I also know that if this time passes without my speaking into this election situation, I will regret it forever. We have real problems that cannot be solved until our moral compass is reset. God change our hearts for good. Give us courage to do that which is honorable and right. Help us be not afraid to welcome and love one another. Lead us, Lord. Lead us into righteousness. May my will be your will. Amen.

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