Author: Nancy Wade
Faith is the bird that knows the light and sings while it is still dark. Tagore
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
After nearly four years of tyranny and chaos in the White House, I had been looking forward, with great anticipation, to election day, 2020. And while Joe Biden wasn’t my very top choice from the diverse group of Democratic candidates, I viewed his probable election as a safe and solid way to remove Trump from the presidency. Like many Americans, I was just plain tired and, as election day approached, I let myself believe that certainly most Americans believed as I did, that they would also vote for Joe Biden, and that we were headed for a big Democratic landslide.
In my dreams and in my day dreams, I pictured a clear-cut victory, one where there could be no doubt that the winners would be Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I even fantasized about the Congress invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office early, so that we could get on with it and get our country back on track.
I could not have been more wrong.
My faith was tested in the 24 hours following the polls closing. There was no clear-cut winner, in spite of my fervent wishes and prayers. So I prayed harder, not so much for a Democratic victory but for sustenance and support to navigate the upcoming days. A few hours after the polls closed, I joined three church friends on Zoom to share angst, to commiserate, to wonder, and to pray. Once again, my faith community was there for me; the support felt nurturing and strong.
As I write this, exactly one week after election day, Joe Biden is the President-Elect with Kamala Harris as the Vice President-Elect. Of that we can be sure. But our current president has not conceded the election; he has hunkered down in the White House, tweeting angry opinions on how the election was stolen from him, and about how, once the “legal votes” are counted, he will be the victor.
Apparently, we will need to “let Trump be Trump” for awhile longer.
Life is never as clear-cut as we want it to be. As unbelievable as it seems to me, there are millions of people in our country who support Donald J. Trump and who would have liked to see his presidency continue. My stomach clutches up whenever I think about this; however, it is the truth. And so the question becomes: how do we begin those difficult conversations? How do we step forward as Christian people to try to understand those who believe differently than we do?
In our relief over the election results, we who live in a blue city in a blue state need to refrain from gloating and begin to listen. We need to close our mouths and listen to those who disagree with us so that as our country moves forward under a new administration, we can once again be a united people.
Reality never quite matches up to our expectations and that is where our faith sustains us and the challenge begins.
