Well, we’ve made it to election day. Today, I am praying for our nation.
I am praying that those who are voting are safe from Covid-19 and from intimidation.
I am praying that everyone who is working at the polls and in election offices are safe and have the strength for a long and complicated day.
I am praying that everyone who is watching and waiting for results has patience and appropriately placed confidence in our system.
I am praying that our election system proves worthy of that confidence.
I am praying that this election day will be peaceful,
I am praying that in, polling places around the country, this election day will reflect the priorities and values in our founding documents.
On Sunday, we celebrated All Saints Day, when we remember people of faith who have died, particularly in the past year. The reading, which you will find below, is famous passage where Jesus is teaching. Once again, he is teaching his disciples (and us) about who God is inviting, urging, calling us to be. In these poetic verses, Jesus lays out God’s priorities. He reminds us that God is present in challenging and difficult moments in our lives when we might imagine God is absent, but God is there.
May these verses serve as a reminder for us to today and for the days that lie ahead. In our lives, struggle, sorrow, and vulnerability are all too common. Yet, they are not signs that God has abandoned us. Rather, the difficulties and losses we face are places where God shows up. As Jesus uses the word “blessed,” we remember that sometimes we see God more easily in the challenges we face. We certainly turn to God in difficult moments, seeking care and hope.
Jesus is calling us to a way of life grounded in God’s presence and God’s compassion. He is calling us to embrace vulnerability in ways that are surprising to the powerful.
Today, we face a contentious election. Today, we are in the midst of a deadly pandemic that has led to so many deaths, as well as isolation and other kinds of loss. Today, we see racial injustice that we may have overlooked before. Today, we each have our own challenges and sorrows, too.
Today, let Jesus words wash over us. Let us see each other and ourselves as God’s struggling and broken children. We are blessed because of God’s faithful and relentless love. God comes to us in moments of sorrow, meekness and hunger, moments of mercy and peace. God uses us to reach out to each other. Together, we are a great cloud of witnesses, we are the Body of Christ.
Peace,