Call for Unity

Good Morning All,

“I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…”(2Timothy 4.7) These words were penned by the Apostle Paul, but are quite appropriate for both of the presidential candidates and to all who worked to help elect them and to all of us who cast our ballots. I have awakened to this “morning after” with an Election Night Hangover. Shame on you for thinking it might be due to something other than sleep deprivation! :)

I gave my remote quite a workout going from network to network to catch the latest results from the early pockets of electoral votes to the statewide decisions; from the moment when the magic # of 270 was reached to the last words of the concession speech and closing with the last words of the victory speech. I was riveted to say the least. I come by all this enthusiasm about politics quite naturally because all through my upbringing my parents were politicians; working and serving throughout their careers and beyond. I have such vivid memories of election night parties and activities in our home and it continues to this day.

Elections, especially many of our Presidential elections, and this one in particular, carry such emotion, such fervor. And this election certainly bears witness to the words of caution that warn of the divisiveness that usually comes from discussions about politics & religion. Although we heard so much about “the undecideds,” I never encountered the first person who didn’t know which candidate they supported. Everyone I met had such strong feelings of support for their candidate and their political party as did I.

As I listened to Senator McCain’s concession speech, and as I listened to Senator Obama’s victory speech, I heard them both call for unity among all the people of our nation. And I thought for a nano-second, I was at a Disciples of Christ rally…ah, to have those millions of supporters as members of our denomination! The rule and passion of one of our Disciples of Christ’s founders, Barton Stone was, "Let Christian unity be our polar star."

The call for unity; the desire to end the polarity always must come following a long, hard, passionate fight for whatever prize. And while the many months of campaigning were arduous, the hard work that is needed to make this call a reality in this country has just begun. There are many walking wounded who will need more than just a little bit of time to heal from last night’s results and there are those whose candidate has emerged victorious who will need to respect that with the same kind of graciousness that Senator McCain exhibited.

But regardless of your political leanings, this indeed has been an election filled with numbers we haven’t seen in this country for several decades: new voter registrations, volunteer efforts, actual voter turnout and unprecedented financial support. But more than all this…this election is unprecedented in some very important ways. Step back in our US history to:

· 1870(138 years ago) when the 15th amendment of our Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing voting rights for all citizens (read, all Black male citizens) regardless of race, color or previous condition of servitude…yet it wasn’t enforced until 1963—only 45 years ago, at the height of the Civil Rights movement;
· 1920 (88 years ago) when the 19th amendment was ratified, guaranteeing the right of all women to vote (read, only white women) and the same enforcement came for Black women in 1963…

And now 46 years after one of the worst struggles in our history, our new US President will be sworn into office on January 20, 2009, on the steps of the US Capitol, which was built by slaves during the 1850’s…

We’ve come full circle…we are about to not only talk the talk of equality, we are about to walk its walk…putting words that have appeared on some very important paper for several generations; reminding us that every last one of us, is not only equal under the laws of this great nation, but first and foremost, every last one of us is equal in the eyes of God…
Let unity be our nation’s “polar star…” Blessings, Joanne