The Morning After

Rev. Dr. J. Thomas Gough, the minister of my church, posted these thoughts this morning. They express what I'm feeling right now, but can't muster the energy or presence of mind to express myself, certainly not so eloquently.

"Friends, I believe we are discovering something about the country we live in that little resembles the country we once believed was ours. This is disheartening, and crushing, to learn that so many of our fellows are in fact this gleefully misogynistic, xenophobic, homophobic, and blindly, willfully, without a single concern for people who are not exactly like them. It can, and probably does feel soul destroying. But it is also a call to us, especially we who believe in a loving, inclusive, grace-filled God and the vision for the world that this engenders. Grieve the loss of what felt possible, but know that it will only be the end of that vision if we allow it to be. We can absolutely strengthen ourselves in each other's presence, then continue to cross boundaries, build bridges, deepen connections, and stand as witness to love's transforming power."

The only problem is, I'm still back at the crushing, soul destroying part. The part about how yesterday has revealed that we live in a country where so many of our fellow citizens - our neighbors, colleagues and family, in some cases - are "blindly, willfully, without a single concern for people who are not exactly like them." Yesterday I said to myself and my friends, this will be the day love trumps hate. It was not. It was not because millions of our fellow citizens turned a blind eye to some of the most hate-filled rhethoric - and behavior - we have ever seen in a Presidential election. That is what is soul crushing. There will always be demagogues. It is the people who embolden them, who hand them power, who are truly more frightening to me. 

I wish I could say that I'm at the place that he invokes at the end of his post, the place of renewed belief in the vision of our world that I had, we all had, yesterday. But if I'm honest, I have to say, I am not. If this bruising campaign was not sufficient to convince our fellow citizens of the value of that world view, I'm at a loss as to what will. I'm sorry to be so negative, but I had to get that off of my chest. I am grateful, though, for the chance to share my thoughts and feelings candidly in this space. I hope tomorrow to be able to muster the grace to do what he calls for, to recommit to the vision and the work needed to bring it into the world. I realize it's really the only option available to us. But today I cannot.