Reflections and Hope for Election Day

Last week I suggested we make part of our effort to be people of faith by doing several activities as contributions to peace on Election Day. So, I thought that I would first share the actions I took in this effort. 

First, I attended the Nuns on the Bus initiative which included this year, Nuns on the Bus and Friends, meaning lay people who joined the nuns presumably because the project fanned out to more venues and points across the country and the number of buses had to be increased. Two of my community members were part of this section of Ohio’s schedule so I made sure that another sister and I were there to support and learn. We met at Holy Trinity Church in Cleveland where a packed church awaited to learn the Catholic perspective on justice and human need issues, global injustices that require U.S. humane assistance and leadership with other nations, and especially, what each presidential candidate might offer. We learned how to be involved in our local need of support for the underserved. (I suggest you look into the National Catholic Lobby of Network out of Washington, D.C.)

My next action was to attend a panel with Joan Chittister, OSB, and Liz Cheney in Erie, Pennsylvania. Joan is a well-known American nun, author, and icon of post-Vatican II thinking in spirituality as it is impacted by our secular lives. You all know Liz Cheney as the republican committee member, along with Adam Kinzinger, who served on the Congressional Investigative committee on the January 6 riots in the Capitol. Liz spoke for one half hour before joining Joan for the panel. (The audience was so large that the venue had to be changed to the Erie Convention Center and though we arrived early, security protocol was very involved and nearly every seat had been taken before we got into the hall.)

I was impressed with Cheney’s spiritual awareness of her role as a congresswoman. Her sincerity lifted off the page when she urged us to do whatever we can to protect our democracy remembering that on earth God’s work is our own. Both women exuded a gravitas and deep respect for the Constitution, our revered document that could be ignored in a possible future administration. Already, plans are underway to cut the Johnson Amendment which protected Church and State separation. The new effort would empower religions and places of worship to foster public support of a given candidate on the property of such religious places. Obviously, this would divide believers and remove tax exemption from the centers of faith.

My next action was to join Faiths United to Save Democracy, a national organization, which, among other things, has taken on the challenge of providing ‘Poll Chaplains/Peacekeepers for Elections.’ I took the orientation and am now assigned to a poll in Northeast, Ohio. The goal is to be a peacemaker at the poll, and we were provided with techniques to help people feel good about voting, not fearful. 

Finally, every day I pray for the peaceful process of the election and its aftermath. Your places of worship are distributing many prayers for this intention. Please seek them out.

Reflection

Thomas Ricks is a Pulitzer Prize winner who has written the book, First Principles: What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country. Ricks wanted to glean from the education and intellectual grounding of our founding presidents: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, to determine if what influenced them in their customary pursuit of a classical education, could still hold our country together. He wrote the book in response to the 2016 election, so it is a current and thoughtful explanation that does not glorify the Founders but puts their thinking into a reasonable and solid perspective. 

Some thoughts Ricks presents is that despite the differences these men had among each other, they would be “appalled” and greatly disappointed at how “money has come to dominate American politics…” and how “monopolized property,” as Adams wrote, “in the possession of the few is a curse to mankind.” Jefferson lamented that “…bad men will sometimes get in,” and Madison opined that, “Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.”  It is important to know that seven of the thirty-nine signers of the Constitution were immigrants including Alexander Hamilton and James Wilson. Ricks gives 10 points at the end of his book which he believes we can follow to feel better about elections and individual civic duty. If I were teaching, I’d be sure to share these with students. Based on hope and the spirit of our founders, these are points we can all follow to insure the ‘common good.’

But for now, be sure you vote, and you help others to vote. You have a duty as a citizen to honor that most important privilege. Social philosopher Michael Sandel says it is not enough to think that freedom means I have my rights to do what I want but rather, “…to share in self-government, to deliberate about the common good, to have a meaningful voice in the shaping of our lives.”

Let’s spend time reflecting on biblical injunctions that lead us to see why the ‘common good’ guides us in the shaping of our lives and the lives of others also. Take time with the Beatitudes. (Matthew 5:3-12; Luke 6:20-26) How can they speak to you about the deeply spiritual meaning of Election Day?

God bless all of you, my dear readers, and my Anonymous Angels. And God bless The United States of America