The election is over. Now what?

Another presidential election has ended. Thank God. 

“Passions were high” is an understatement. “We are polarized” is an all-too-accurate cliché.

BUT… (and, as Pee-Wee Herman said, “Everyone has a big BUT…”)

The election is over. 

So…now what? 

Many Americans approached the election as a battle. In fact, an alarmingly high number of them approached it as an actual armed insurrection.

But, for those who DON’T support overturning the government of the United States, the election is over. And, like some book once said, there comes a time to beat our swords into plowshares, to channel our passion and energy into peace.

Political campaigns are about fighting, about tearing down more than building up, even when the cause is just. 

Right now, that’s not what we need. We need to be about the positive, and the building up. The understanding. The empathy. The conversation. And a political campaign frame of mind makes that impossible.

I know that is idealistic and pollyannaish (I definitely had to look up how to spell that and still Microsoft says I’m wrong) and possibly naive. I know it is, if we are measuring by political standards. There are dangerous people right now planning all manner of dangerous stuff.

But there are more of us (good people) than there are of them. And (this is going to trigger some of you) I am including all Americans in that statement. There are people who made a choice on Nov. 3 that we cannot condone, but they didn’t do it because they’re jerks.

I won’t try to express their reasons. That’s not our job. Our job is to hear them as THEY express their reasons.

And then seek to understand.

Because we are stuck with each other. 

We’re are all in it together, but we are not “all in the same boat.” We don’t even HAVE a boat!

The two sides are like two men tied tightly at the wrist, dropped into the middle of the ocean to swim for their lives. We cannot survive if we both swim in opposite directions all the time. We will exhaust each other and drown. We need to make a plan we can both agree with (or at least both can live with, literally) and set out to achieve it.

We cannot and will not survive if we beat the crap out of each other. One of us will die and drag the other down with him. 

I am not advocating that we ignore violence. In fact, I think we should condemn violence, no matter who commits it. Ransacking our nation’s Capitol harms us all. Burning down someone’s business harms us all.

We must work together going forward, peacefully if not happily. 

There literally is no other way except destruction. That’s not hyperbole. What is your solution to those who don’t and won’t think the way you do? Jail them? Kill them? 

We must stay within the guardrails of the law and, if you have the guts, within the guardrails of civility (it’s easy to throw insults; it’s much harder to stop and try to understand someone else’s perspective).

This isn’t just about “them” though. This is about you, my friends.

It is NOT HEALTHY to live on a perpetual, negative campaign footing. Not healthy for your body, not healthy for your brain, not healthy for your emotions, not healthy for your heart.

We need to recover and heal. 

Let’s move forward to rebuild America, in our own small ways. Those are the actions that will heal the damage that has been done to our nation and our hearts.

Take some time to appreciate and improve what we all came together to preserve.

I leave you with the words of our new leader, President Uncle Joe Biden:

“In each of these moments, enough of us, enough of us, have come together to carry all of us forward. And we can do that now. History, faith and reason show the way, the way of unity. We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors. We can treat each other with dignity and respect.

"We can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature. For without unity there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. 

“This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward. And we must meet this moment as the United States of America. If we do that, I guarantee you we will not fail. We have never ever, ever, ever failed in America when we’ve acted together.

"And so today, at this time, in this place, let’s start afresh, all of us. Let’s begin to listen to one another again, hear one another, see one another, show respect to one another. 

"Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war.”

“…together we shall write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity, not division. Of light, not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healing, greatness and goodness. 

“May this be the story that guides us. The story that inspires us and the story that tells ages yet to come that we answered the call of history. We met the moment. Democracy and hope, truth and justice did not die on our watch, but thrived. 

“That America secured liberty at home and stood once again as a beacon to the world. That is what we owe our forebears, one another and generations to follow.

“So, with purpose and resolve, we turn to those tasks of our time. Sustained by faith, driven by conviction, devoted to one another and the country we love with all our hearts.”

:-)

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