What to Say After the Election Winner Has Been Declared

My pastor, Keith Spencer of Trinity Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Pembroke Pines, Florida, posted these wise words yesterday after Joe Biden was declared winner of the presidential election.  I found them so moving that I'm posting them here:

"I’ve been quiet on the election, not wanting to add the the rage and pain of others and the toxic divisiveness that has become its own plague upon this nation, but know how disquieted my soul has been, how anxious my heart. No healing was possible with Trump’s re-election. The nation’s most vulnerable would suffer. Those seeking a new life would face this administration’s pathological hatred of immigrants and asylum seekers.

Now the LGTBQIA+ community will wake each day in a Biden administration with much more hope and respect for their personhood. People of color will live with expectation and rightfully demand accountability that issues of racism will be taken more seriously and solutions sought.

Those who voted for four more years of a Trump Presidency had their reasons. Our visions of what constitutes a more perfect future for our children apparently diverge. Perhaps we can all re-double our efforts to listen rather than rage and mock.

May these words from CNN be prophetic:

'Biden's victory means that Trump's rage-filled presidency — powered by his nationalism, toxic racial appeals, incessant lying and assault on democratic institutions — may come to be seen as a historical aberration rather than a new normal.'”