What God asks of us - on the eve of the 2020 election

Did God ask you to follow the desires only of the rich and powerful? 

Did God ask you to ignore the needs of the middle class and those who are destitute? 

Did God ask you to create a tax cut that only lasted for several years for those who are not rich, creating immediate gains but hiding the coming increase in taxes for most Americans? 

Did God ask you to focus only on your views, establishing laws that codify your religious beliefs, refusing to see that your freedom is intact only when the freedom of others is also guaranteed? 

Did God ask you to allow those who are supposed to preserve justice to protect from scrutiny any leaders who believe that law and order is for everyone but themselves? 

Did God ask you to endlessly attempt to disenfranchise thousands - even millions - of honest voters as a way to try to win, rather than doing so with persuasion based on policies? 

Did God ask you to look at the history of election ridicule, which has, sadly, been an American tradition, and to take it to a dangerous extreme? 

Did God ask you to support people who would put a state leader in their sights for kidnapping and possible execution?

Did God ask you to misrepresent moderate viewpoints, recasting them as extreme, when they are not, in any way, extreme? 

Did God ask you to see lovers of our nation, who would seek a good life here, as invaders who deserve no human consideration? 

Did God ask you to ignore the counsel of scientific experts and measure the value of life based on a fictional number of those who did not die, rather than offering empathy and comfort to those who family members did die from a pandemic that could have been more carefully controlled? 

Did God ask you to submit to the will of a speaker whom you find entertaining, but whose statements often stray far from facts and the truth?

I think not.   I am not sure who “you” is, specifically, but I know you are out there. 

I believe that God asks something different from us. 

To listen. 

To offer support to those with whom we agree or disagree. 

To state our views and engage in respectful discourse. 

To recognize the divine image in every person in our communities and all across the world. 

To offer concern and support for people facing all sorts of challenges and needs. 

To meet despair with hope. 

To respond to fear with courage. 

To build everyone up, not just a select few. 

To provide healing for those struggling to survive. 

My wording is always cautious, so that I can write again. 

The feelings inside are strong

As I look to a time when there will be room for people with different perspectives to find a way to work with each other. 

Based on the words of Psalm 85: 

May faithfulness and truth meet

May justice and well-being kiss. 

May truth spring up from the earth; 

May justice look down from heaven.