Every election is not simply a choice between candidates – it is also a test of American democracy.

2020 has been a tough year for sure.  The good news is that we don’t have to close it out with chaos, distrust or disappointment.  We are not just Republicans or Democrats, for both parties must support all of the people for they are elected by the people in secret ballot. 

We are Americans and Americans are resilient.  Let’s take these last few weeks of 2020 and show our resilience by putting our fear in one hand, our faith in the other, and clasp them together in prayer for the courage to be the honorable, caring people that built the United States into a county that is loved and respected.

As we cast our votes, we do well to remember that there is no one perfect candidate.  Everyone is flawed; me and you included.  Here is my own platform that drove my vote for this election and is neither red nor blue, but perhaps shades of each.

Please consider your own platform, uncritically, with courage that comes from faith, not from enemies or media.  Our current political issues today are nothing new.  It would do us well to study history.  The election of 1968 is worth the study about the danger of not understanding basic human wants and needs.  The difference in today’s election is that 2020 is so more than a passage of 52 years.  I won’t point out the differences.  That is for you, the reader, to determine—check it out. 

Instead, I will share precious times of the day, walks with my dog, Teddie, where we experience the glorious mixture of babies in strollers being pushed along by their parents.  There are people jogging, talking on their cell phones, and those enjoying the outdoors. 

It is a mixture of races, ages, cultures, and beliefs.  There is Jan who proudly displays her shaven head.  She just finished chemo treatment.  There are the two mothers who take turns home schooling their children with hilarious results that they will tell years from now.  There is the young media journalist who only wants to escape from the written page and smell the air and watch as the fall leaves swirl around him, inhaling the freedom of this moment.  We all smile, say hello, and if we are very lucky, we get to pet their dog.  This is the America I believe in. 

There are infants that have just opened their eyes to a world that will be of their making, a shining light on the future.  There are those who have just closed their eyes, free from earthly worries. But with faith gained from their first awakening, they will preserve the life that they lived in such a way that they left the world a better place for those to come, than they found it.

Let us be in thoughts and prayer today for the courage to humbly accept the will of the vote, and that doesn’t mean ruminating that our vote didn’t count or that it only counts for me.  All votes send a message to every political party.  It is this: regardless of win or lose, the power lies with the will of all the people they serve.  A vote is a powerful reminder of that.

This morning I clasped my hands tightly together and prayed for our county that we all have the courage to do what Americans do best; that we all see each other with an empathetic mind and a loving heart.

I pray there will be no destructive disappointment or destructive celebration.  Instead, let’s join hands, virtually or in person, and be the salt of our nation and preserve what we stand for; let us be the light of unity.

Peace be with the United States of America, one nation under God.

“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?  It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.  Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”  Matthew 5:13-16  KJV                                                          \