Today the comment threads on my feeds have bifurcated – with strings of horror and chains of celebration according to people’s polical preferences. Or maybe your threads lean mostly or competely one way. We all have different webs on connection after all. This piece is not about the merits or otherwise of the actual result but about our reactions in far-away Australia.
And its also not an attempt to shut down discussion. But to ask a question alongside other commentary.
Can we “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15) post the US election? Can we love those on the other side of the political fence? The winner who are grinners and the losers in states of dispair?
“Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” (John 1:16) Love is not optional. We have to love those we might resent or want to jeer at in this moment. And I am seeing lots of both responses.
Here are some reflections for how to pray.
For the winners. Lets borrow a line from the compline prayer from the US Book of Common Prayer. “Shield the joyous.” Lets pray that God will be with them as they sense their victory. May he shield them from putting their trust in princes or worldly power. Or mocking others, through self satisfaction.
For those who wanted the Democrats to win. Perhaps the assurance of Julian of Norwich’s words will help. ““All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well” She wrote this in the time of the black death – the plague. The were many wars and the church was divided. It was truly a time of peril, just as those concerned with the election result think of the presenr moment.
For both sides, please remember, God is still in control, whether you think good or evil has prevailed. And indeed good or evil are the categories in which many of those I have seen responding on the net place the result in.
This election result is far from the only anxiety, afflicting many around us. It is jacaranda time and so there are young people completing exams – and some will kow they have done well, and others sense the opposite. We can certainly pray for both sorts of student. For the successful that they will put their worlk to good use,not becoming proud. For those who have not done so well that they will have a good path forward. In the same way we can pray for those we agree with, or disagree about the US election results.
Let us pray.
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