So, how are you feeling in these days after the midterm elections? Happy or sad? Enthused or depressed? Elated or dejected? Ready to get busy or move on? Even just exhausted?
The answers probably depend on your political leanings and how your candidates fared. Like basketball fanatics who fill in a bracket before March Madness, you may have seen your midterm bracket busted, or you may be pumping your fist in the air and eager for the next round.
I don’t do brackets for sports or politics, but if I had one for the midterms, I’d have to confess I picked both winners and losers. But that’s OK, because I don’t say “game over” once the votes are counted and winners declared. I try to take the long view, because history tells us our nation has gone through stormy political seasons before and we’ve always been able to look back later and find we’re still intact and functioning.
In my opinion, these elections are never “the most important ever,” and the opposition never poses the “existential threat” that the talking heads declare. Use of those words and phrases are nothing more than scare tactics designed to get people lined up at the polls. That’s fine, but sadly, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on those messages and yet the electorate — “we the people” — are lazy, even in a year when both sides were saying, “The future of our democracy is at stake.” If you have any doubt, consider voter turnout this year: Of the more than 19 million Texans registered to vote, a little more than 9 million voted, according to transparencyusa.org. That’s 49.02 percent, which is better than many general elections, but half the electorate still didn’t participate.
Nevertheless, the midterms are over and it’s time to get back to work. If I might, I’d like to borrow the format of Howard Thurman’s beautiful poem, “The Work of Christmas,” and offer this:
When the votes have been cast and counted,
When the voices of the candidates have been quieted,
When the bright lights of the rallies and debates are dimmed,
When the pollsters have gone back to their cubicles,
When the TV ads return to selling drugs, beer and cars,
The work of community resumes:
To be kind to neighbors and strangers,
To bridge the gap between need and relief,
To educate the young and heal the hurting,
To listen to the silent,
To restore civility and dignity to our conversations,
To live and give with unabashed generosity,
To share God’s mercy and grace.
I say the work “resumes” because much of what is needed to be “community” seems to be suspended during election seasons. We get distracted by messages and agendas, and perhaps we invest too much hope in the high-minded promises of candidates. They can and will do only so much when in office. Being community is still up to us.