Navigating Election Week with Faith, Hope, and Resilience
Beloved -
This week is a heavy one for many of us. It marks just 6 days until the election and our national public discourse is already full of traumatizing, triggering, harmful speech and actions. There are jokes and policy promises and leaders and news stories that surround us with reminders of what is at stake in this election. There are also some places we can find joy and delight, some celebration and some healthy regular life going on to be sure - but by and large, this coming week feels like it's going to be laborious. And we are a people who are shaped by a God above any political or partisan platform, but a God who deeply cares about how our common life impacts one a another, creation, and especially the marginalized. Below are a few resources, reminders, and a short list for this coming week:
There are prayers we've shared each week meant to help center and guide us. One prayer is linked here if helpful - you can also join us for prayer before church Sundays in person, reach out to Pastor Brent with any q.
We will be creating online space to gather as a church for prayer and support during election week, starting on Tuesday and for the next few days as we likely wait and see what the results will be. We are thinking of making space 12noon - 12:30 each day on a zoom call to gather whoever might want to pray, hear some reflections, and get centered together. Watch for more info on this if you think this may be helpful for you.
We have some resources in the newsletter in case you need reminders for self care, prayer, and voices to listen to this week.
If you need help with a voting plan before Tuesday, or extra prayer or support this week, especially for our Black, Brown and folks of color, if there is extra pastoral support we can offer please let me know.
I also want to share a few brief reminders for this week below. Many of these you likely know but, in case it helps to remember again, these have been good reminders for me lately.
First - we are not alone in this waiting and wondering. This week already I have had many conversations with friends, congregants, our church staff, family, etc., and each time I am reminded that connecting helps us. Opening up and sharing how we're doing, what we're carrying, and making room to hear from someone else, when we do that in healthy ways with healthy folks, we are made better. So consider this week, who can you reach out to and talk with, share a worry or burden with, or who can you make room to listen to, or help carry the load for?
Second - we can reject the stories and narratives that are around us, no matter how loud or polarizing they seem. Naming what we see at rallies as dehumanizing, not ok, offensive, and not of God - that is truth telling. Sharing our deep concern for how this election might impact specifically Black and Brown folks, women, the differently abled, and others - that is compassion, justice, and wisdom at work. Rejecting the trope that any one party has all the answers but that somehow means both sides are equal or similarly to blame for injustice and violence - that is fighting off reductionism and racism. Encouraging others to vote even when they disappointed about a specific issue or feel unsure if their voice matters - that's reminding people of the sacrifice others before us spent on getting the vote. So this week, whenever you need to, pause and ask yourself, what is really true here? What can I see and know through all the noise, and what alternate or more true way can I choose and speak up on?
Third - we need to take care of ourselves. Pay attention, so you know when to engage, when to rest; when to speak, when to listen; when to learn from someone different, when to hold our own. This is a good time to pay attention to how your body holds things, what self care and soul care speaks to you, and who is life giving to be around and can you support and offer life to. The trauma and labor of witnessing where we are as a nation right now brings a cost with it, and more to some than others. Hearing and seeing all that is going on is traumatic, heart breaking, and can feel overwhelming. Don't let it consume you and one small part of fighting dehumanization is caring well for yourself and those around us.
Fourth - as people of faith we can turn to God with everything; we can cry out and lament, pray, wail, cry, pray for, intercede on behalf of, speak up for, declare, rebuke, and actively engage the powers and principalities of this world through our faith. We can turn to God with all of it, and know that God meets us in all of it. We can turn to prayer, to the Word, to meditating, to worship, to staying focused on what God is already doing in the world whenever we lose our way.
Fifth - we are a both/and people when it comes to our feelings, needs, and health. We can both lament and find joy and beauty in the same breath. We can both talk about injustice and be clear about power run amuck, and still slow down to be with our kids, our friends. We can both call our elected officials and lament and grieve, and enjoy the warm weather and bright red leaves falling outside. It is ok, it is actually good, to go through all of it, not rejecting either end of how we might feel or process these next few weeks.
And lastly, we are always in every space, invited to be people of justice, of hope, of truth-telling and of love. We are still a people not of this world, but also called to seek the welfare of this world and its creation alongside our Emmanuel, God with Us. We each have our own voices and gifts to bring to this work of advocacy, loving, healing, and serving this world - let's encourage one another when we see someone showing up. When we see a friend supporting their neighbor with a meal, a co-worker bringing seniors to the polls, a kid thinking ahead about how to show kindness to an anxious friend, a colleague fighting for just policies in our city.
Grateful for you LaSalle - and know that we're in this together, God's with us, and we can speak up and care well throughout this week! I hope you can also join us Sunday for a beautiful day of worship together too - we'll celebrate baptism and mark All Saints Day remembering those who have passed, we'll learn more from John how to Abide and Stay Focused, and we'll sing and pray and take communion and pass the peace with one another. In all these things and in your day to day, I hope you feel the presence and peace of God closely with you this week.
With much love - RevLiz