Election Day Prayers

Oh Canada!

Pretty sure it's not understating it to say that there's much at stake today.  More than usual in a federal election.  So much going on.  A lot to process and receive and analyze over these past weeks.  

I have so appreciated the articulate thoughts of many, both on line and in person; in well-balanced articles, in passionate rhetoric, in reasoned news reports, and in respectful conversations with people much more cognizant of all the issues and nuances than I.  

I have appreciated hearing from all the candidates, particularly the ones who came to my door, 

Today I will vote, of course!  I do not take that privilege for granted for one second, especially as a woman, especially in this point of time on our planet when so many have been stripped of so many rights.   I have weighed it out and will cast my ballot, and then watch with the rest of the country this evening as the results are tallied and our next government is formed.

But before that.

Tragedy in Vancouver on the eve of it all, just to remind us that life is precious, and insanity and chaos can change things in an instant.  And we grieve together with our Canadian bothers and sisters, not caring how they would vote today, but only that we share in their unspeakable loss.

I want to be careful not to distort the words of Paul written to a specific situation for the people of the church in Galatia.  He did not have politics so much in mind, but he was dealing with forces that would impose unnecessary restrictions on the people, and the threat of division.  As such, I do believe that his attempts to bring his readers back to 'the main thing' most certainly apply to our current affairs.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.  

But do not use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature; 

rather, serve one another in love. 

 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 

"Love your neighbour as yourself." 

If you bite and devour each other, 

watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Galatians 5:13-15

Tomorrow the dust will settle and we will all be making decisions about what's next; how to be strong and confident and authentic as we step together into the future.   My prayer is that the Church of Christ will help lead the way in the way of Jesus.

God keep our land.

Let's Talk About It

"Let your conversation be always full of grace,

seasoned with salt,

so that you know how to answer everyone."

Colossians 4:6

Came across a Ted Talk the other day that struck me as powerful in its simplicity. In about ten minutes, Celeste Headlee, an American radio journalist, author, public speaker, and co-host of a weekly series on PBS with 20 years of experience, lays down "10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation."

I'll leave the link at the bottom so you can take a look at it yourself. Well worth the time in my opinion, but will leave that to you.

Since communication is so important to me, and I am always, always striving to do this better, in various forms and forums, Headlee's focus on some of the basic attitudinal transactions within every conversation give me plenty to think about.

This one I love.

"Assume you have something to learn."

Every person, she reminds us, knows something you don't. In every conversation, there's something someone can teach you.

I love the humility and honesty of that. I love how it switches the focus from how I might want to impress someone (come on, we all do this all the time, so much so they have a name for it: Image Management) to how I might want to let them impress me (what a concept!). I love the connectivity of this, the curiosity, the way it opens up more possibilities relationally. The opportunity it brings to encourage and lift up the other.

And, in fact, I've found this to be true. Especially and particularly when I'm engaging with people who are very different from me. Different lifestyles, different cultures, different political opinions, different theologies.

There's just so much to learn out there, and every person we come across has something that could enrich us. Hopefully, if the conversation goes well and there's the balance of back-and-forth, we just might enrich them too.

Every day the news depicts a world deeply divided. Is it too simplistic to believe that perhaps we'd be more united if we just knew how to have better conversations?

So on this very rainy Tuesday morning - when I'm NOT out walking - I wish you a day full of fabulous conversations.

Can't wait to see what new things we can learn today.

And how that might bring us closer.

10 Ways to Have Better Conversations 

Staying Together in a Pulled-Apart World

Unfiltered photo of heart cloud at sunset.

Are we okay?

The 'we' I mean is the broad scope of human relationships that have been strained to the max by the necessary distance forced upon us these past long, world's-gone-crazy months.  

I'm feeling it.

My youngest grandson just turned one and, compared to the others at the same age, he barely knows me. That sits as a sadness in my chest, even as I patiently and intentionally take the opportunities to win him over now.  We're getting there, but it's not quite okay yet.

Another sadness.  There are kids growing up way too fast on the other side of the world, and I'm missing out in ways unreclaimable.  A few of our children have come to our Hot Springs family since I was there last.  I don't even know them yet.  They have no experience of me.  This isn't okay.  And neither is the growing ache to simply be with Suradet and Yupa; to laugh with, grieve with, dream with together in the same place.  Not okay.

We can gather now, here at home, as a faith community, and this is very good.  Yes, so very good.  And also, no hugging.  And this is not okay.  And neither is it okay that our COVID-weary selves sometimes get the better of us and we end up saying things or responding to things said that aren't really about whatever was said at all, but about our fears that things have changed and that maybe we don't belong now, or whatever other insidious fears have bubbled up since this all began.  And perhaps the long loneliness we experienced when we were all shut up in our homes was the true reflection of our worth, which is why we are so desperate for social affirmations now that we can be together, even without the hugging. Nothing feels okay without the hugging.

And what about what we've found out about each other's positions on all that was never a thing before but is suddenly so important and 'out-there', now that we're supposed to wear masks and get vaccinated? What about the trusted, life-long friends who are suddenly on the other side of what seems like a very dangerous fence, no matter what side of that fence we might think is the safe one?  Are we actually going to call each other names now?  Is that okay?

See why I'm asking? 

Are we okay?

Speaking to different but equally contentious relationship-straining topic, Paul reminded the Galatian church that "the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love" (Galatians 5:6).  The people there were rather entrenched on their own sides of what seemed to them a very dangerous fence.  Dogma was the actual threat, and falling into a way of thinking that stood firm on "us and them" instead of "we".

Are "we" okay?  Can "we" do this together?

Can we make unity the priority over being right?  Can we leave room for an opposing opinion to be considered?  Can we refuse to gossip or belittle?  Can we seek first to understand before being understood?  Can we stop and have the conversations before making the declarations?  Can we refrain from losing our tempers and instead let grace temper us?

I'll go further here.  I'm vaccinated.  If you're not, I respect you.  I don't have to agree with you to love you and accept you.  I hope you'll do the same for me.  

We dare not see each other as the enemy, else the real enemy wins.

There is more of this journey ahead my friends.  We will need each other badly if we are to survive and thrive and be "more than conquerors through Him who loved us."  That's Paul again, who - oh wait! - also reminds us that "we" do not do this alone in our human efforts.  Like a heart-shaped cloud that shows up at sunset at the same moment I'm pondering these painful things.

So a prayer for us as we reach out and hold on to each other.  (I'm hugging you as I pray this.)

Father God,  we invite you into all the relational strangeness here with us.  Please.  Be fully present in the spaces between us to hold us together in this time when we are pulled apart by so much.  Draw us toward You in peace and humility.  Collect us together under Your wings of grace.  Shape us into Your image to declare Your faithfulness and love across the sky.  Be everything we need that You are and we are not.  We need You.  Amen