St. Andrews by the Lake

ON THE ELECTION

       Holy Spirit,

      enable us to bring peace

      into places of opposition,

      and to make visible

      by our lives

      a reflection of God’s compassion.

     Yes, enable us to love

      and to express it by our lives.

                     Brother Roger of Taize

    On the morning following the 2008 presidential election, there were many people who were joyous over the  results for president.  Others, were disappointed.  And yet, I think most everyone was very aware of this profoundly historic time in our nation.  In the

book, “Secret Life of Bees“, Lily (a 14 year old girl in 1964) reflects on her life  in regards to not having a mother (she died when Lily was 4).

     Toward the end of the book, she realizes her father must have had a similar void in his life too — losing his wife. The story goes; “Before coming here, my whole life had been nothing but a hole where my mother should have been,and this hole had made me different, left me always aching for something, but never once did I think what he’d lost or how it might’ve changed him.”     

     I try to remind myself often that just because I feel one way, doesn’t mean the whole world follows suit. It’s important to listen to what others think and feel. 

     I did come across several wonderful statements that bear reflection as we move forward together as one country now — and not parties (teams).

     Micah D. Greenstein (author of: Whose Side Are You On?), wrote: “We are ministers of the sacred when we demonstrate the moral potential God has given to human beings. May we be worthy instruments of God’s will in this world, by remembering that human beings really are God’s language. God desires us to move forward, not backward. May we all be on God’s side, with all our heart, and all our soul and all our mind.” 

     In a similar fashion, Sally Thompson writes: “…more important than freedom of expression is the realization that our view is always limited. As hard as we try, we can never achieve a monopoly on Truth. The Truth beyond our understanding is that we share the same Creator with the person with whom we might passionately disagree.  This means that when there is disagreement and blood begins to boil, although it is extremely hard, we must always respect the living spirit within our opponent.  This is when we turn to God for help.” (A Different Point of View: Looking at the Other Side)

     Perhaps that’s just another way of saying how important prayer is in the midst of everything. Prayer does not remove us from the world’s

preoccupations. On the contrary, nothing is more responsible than praying. As the late Brother Roger of Taize once said, “The more we live a very simple, very humble prayer, the more we are brought to love and to express that by our lives.”

     So — I encourage you to keep President Bush in your prayers as he finishes his term in office. And I encourage you to pray daily for President-Elect Barak Obama. And pray that our next president and all the elected officials, as well as ourselves, will pursue the moral imperatives to overcome poverty, develop renewable energy,

responsibly withdraw from Iraq and create public policy that chooses life over death.

     I end with a blessing:

         May the God of dreams and visions

         enable you to dream creatively

         and to hear the dreaming of others -

         young and old - in our community.

          May you be open to new ideas,

          dare to share visions,

          be encouraged to hope.

         And the blessing of God -

         Creator, Savior and Friend,

         be with you always.

Peace and Blessings, Cindy+