election results in advent light
The election results this past month were dramatic. Leadership in both the U.S. House and Senate is now being transferred from one party to the other. The winds have shifted, the people have spoken, change is on the horizon. At least that is the report from the Associated Press.
Also true is the continued, perhaps heightened even, divide in our nation. An astounding number of results too close to call with weeks of careful counting ensuing. Even the ballot initiative to protect stem cell research in Missouri, at the outset a slam dunk became a razor’s edge win in the final moments of counting.
What does it mean when every time we enter the voting booth, half of us emerge as losers?
Is it possible to do this democracy thing another way? Is it possible for there to be a will of the people? Is it possible for the will of the people to coalesce around positive values?
Much depends on how we enter the voting booth.
If we enter the voting booth to protect our own best interests and that of our children we become vulnerable to sound bytes politics and wedge issues. We trade the possibility of real reform for protection of our status quo. The bitter irony of course is that though the party names and faces change, nothing of value really changes. Insofar as our values are individualized and personal, divisiveness and social decay will be the order of the day.
Our city schools are a disgrace and children are starved for hope and education as well as for food. Our mental health care safety net has shredded and our most vulnerable adults are being abused and even killed. Our suburban infrastructure (roads, water, schools, parks) keeps growing to the east and west where most registered voters live while the most the marginalized live in increasing squalor.
Looking out for me and mine may be the American way, but it’s killing us. Literally.
As we anticipate the coming of the Prince of Peace, we have a choice. This is the season of reading again the promise of the ancient prophets. They spoke of communal, not personal, salvation; of national security inseparable from social security. They warned of the dangers of isolationism, of greed, of self centeredness. As we prepare for the coming of again of Christ into our world, praying for the long awaited day of the Lord, we are invited to catch a vision of communal well being. And this, dear friends, is what we desperately need.
I agree with your accessment of our failure in putting the community first, particulary above the idea of personal salvation.
December 4th, 2006 at 1:55 amI often encounter those who support the war in Iraq and they always hold up “fighting for freedom” as the lynch pin for supporting the war. For me, I cannot be free if it means killing other people,like the 400 to 700 thousand Iraqi’s who have been killed or the 2800+ US soldiers who have been killed not to mention all those wounded physically and spiritually. My prayer is that the newly elected will not spend all their time on investigations because we already know that the truth was not told, but instead changing the direction of our country in finding ways for peace and lifting up the poor and marginalized.