Posts and Prayers for Election Day

One of the advantages of keeping a blog for over 10 years (over 10 years!) and writing almost daily is that I see cycles that others might not see.  When I went to look at the posts that I wrote for other election days, I was struck by how similar they are. 

For example, I wrote this for election day 2016:  I am an optimist at heart. I see this election season as a hopeful one, even as it has driven so many of us to despair. With a decision this stark, we have been forced to think about what we want. It's not like past elections, where we basically had to choose between 2 men of similar temperaments who existed at the center of the political system.

I wrote this for election day of 2012:  Most of us have similar values. We really do. We want our children to be safe. We want the future to be better than the present. Everyone I know from every part of the political spectrum believes that we'd have a stronger society if people's basic needs were met. I've yet to meet anyone who thinks that anyone deserves to go to bed hungry.

And now, here we are on an election day which feels so different, an election day in a time of plague, a time of what will likely be the biggest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, a time of social upheaval that may leave many of us scarred in ways we can't anticipate right now.

When I look for what makes me hopeful, my brain came back to my neighbor's driveway.  At some point over the past week-end, I noticed a golf cart in my neighbor's driveway.  It had a tarp over it, but I didn't think much about it, since our forecast called for rain.  On Sunday afternoon (Nov. 1), I noticed that it had been decorated for Halloween:

But wait, it gets better.  At night, the lights glow and twinkle: 

I need a better picture, but you get the idea.  

Here are prayers that I wrote 8 years ago, but they seem just as relevant today:

Prayer 1: Just and merciful God, on this day help us to be wise as we cast our ballots. Keep us from the dangers of despair. Remind us of the times when the oppressed have been set free, and help us to be part of that process. Give us the courage to do what must be done.

Prayer 2: Generous God, as we head to the polls, help us stay mindful of those who have gone before us, those who didn't have the privileges that we enjoy. Guide us as we choose our leaders. Help us to discern which candidates will help bring to fruition the world that you envision for us.

Prayer 3: Triune God, remind us that no matter what happens today, the sun will rise tomorrow. Remind us of all the leaders who seemed a disastrous pick at the time but who went on to bring about important changes that we'd have never dreamed possible. Remind us of the leaders with hard hearts that softened. Remind us that you are a God who can make all sorts of dreams come true. And remind us that we have a part to play too.

Prayer 4: Creator God, on this Election Day, we pray for our country and for all countries. We pray for our leaders, those of the past, and those we elect today to lead us toward the future. We pray for all citizens, that we may be involved and not passive.