Reflections on a Lost Race

I have taken a week or so to collect my thoughts on the presidential election recently completed. My initial reaction, like the reaction of so many was fear, anxiety, disgust, discouragement, anger, depression, and all the major upheavals that attend a shock to the system. I'm not over it, but enough time has elapsed that I can now reflect on the results with less profanity than I would have otherwise.

John Bradshaw, noted psychologist, has said that emotions are e-motions -- energy in motion, if you will. As giddy as the winning side has been, their euphoria will wear off and they will see the chaos of the next few months and simply assume it is because the "left" is making trouble. They will be partially right. The left will not roll over and play dead. We still love our country and the rule of law, and as bad as the double standard is under which we have increasingly slid, we do have legal options available to us for mounting whatever resistance we can, so let's keep our minds open about that.

Secondly, we can allow our grief to paralyze us, or we can use it to motivate us to do better. That's the direction in which I intend to go.

Thirdly, the one thing I find counter-productive is name calling and blame-fixing. It is cathartic to hurl insults and epithets at those who let us down. I'd even venture to say "they" have earned those insults, slings, and arrows. Never-the-less, as good as that might feel, it won't get us where we want to go, it won't accomplish those things we want to accomplish, and it really won't bring glory to the Name of our God, or bring God's reign to fruition. So let's not waste any more energy there than we need to. Let's move on.

What does it mean to move on? Shall we forget what happened? Live and let live? Run away and hope to fight another day?

No, of course not. Moving on requires a period of self-reflection. It also requires a modicum of bravery on our part. Bravery? Yes, we need to lower our fists and righteous indignation and be prepared to listen. We need to abandon assumptions about the "other" and hear what they have to say, for they, like us, do not believe they have been heard, respected, honored, or understood.

What do we have in common, we and they? Fear. That is our common denominator. Fear. We are afraid (and rightly so) that progress made over the past century will be undone. We fear democracy, as tenuous as it is in the best of times, is even more at risk now. We fear the bloodshed that will take place as bullies and tyrants and the unchecked masses will be (or have been) unleashed on women, the LGBTQI+ community, and more. But how about our neighbors? How about our neighbor? What do they fear?

In speaking with friends and relatives on the right, their fear is that they will not survive another bout of inflation. They are afraid that their hard-earned income is being taxed and handed over to some undeserving poor (or aliens). They are afraid their jobs are in jeopardy and at risk. Fear is an emotion (energy in motion) and will easily override facts and figures. So what can we do? This is not to say they are right, but it is to say this is some of what they fear. They fear for their survival every bit as much as we do for ours, and that is a place in which we may be able to stand together.

I hear them, so it is not enough to tell them to calm down, or assure them they have nothing to fear, or patronize them as if they are silly little twits. In my faith community, we are called (and promise to) "respect the dignity of every person." Their behavior may not be dignified; their words may not be dignified; their attitudes may not be dignified. That's irrelevant. We invite our friends to "come up higher," which is to say we invite them to join us in a place of dignity and grace. We're not interested in winning or losing, but in restoring our relationship(s).

Secondly, we hear their concern and ask them how we can work together to resolve each matter as it is identified. They may well not hear us or answer. They are so entrenched in believing that their "guy" will fix everything like he promised (and they will not believe his previous term gave him enough time to do it, and that 1/6 was justified, and that the election was stolen, etc.). Those "alternative facts" are so engrained in them now, no amount of argument or evidence will sway them, so to try is wasted energy.

That does not absolve us from inviting folks to stand with us as we face the storm together. It doesn't matter who caused the storm. What matters is that we stand together, building and rebuilding faith and trust in one another. As Abraham Lincoln once said, "If we make the enemy our friend, have we not destroyed the enemy in the process?"

As angry as I may be at what has happened, I cannot undo it, nor will I acquiesce or give my assent through the complicity of silence. No, I'll combat evil when I see it; I will point out crimes as they arise (and they are already piling up); I will continue to speak as closely as humanly possible to what I believe Jesus would say as situations arise, and I will leave godly judgment to the One in whose hands such judgment is better suited.

The Rev. Keith Axberg, Ret.