A Post Election-Day Meditation
November 4, 2020
A former, long-ago parishioner once said to me that he didn't know an Episcopal priest who couldn't wring at least 4 sermons out of one metaphor.
He's absolutely right, of course. You might have noticed that Jesus did a very similar thing (sheep, vines, vineyards, wheat, doors, gates, mustard seeds, etc., etc., etc.).
This is the Election Cake I made for the poll workers last night. I was running late. I was hurried. I broke one of the first rules of baking: I tried to take the cake out of the pan too soon. It caved and crumbled.
This is what the Election Cake looks like this morning. I've tasted a few crumbs. It's delicious. It is baked to perfection. The yeast did what it was supposed to do. So did the flour and the baking soda and the wonderfully warm and diverse seasonings of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice.
It's still a great cake. It just doesn't look like it's supposed to look. Indeed, it doesn't look very appetizing right now.
The fault is not with the cake, but the anxious, impatient baker.
Those who are Episcopalian and reading this will need no introduction to the metaphor for this election. Or, the Electoral College. Or, the state of this country, right now. (Note: Three sermons there, without even breaking a sweat.)
Just because we were warned countless times by countless poly-sci experts that this was going to take a while, it still sucks to have to live it out. Anxiety and impatience threaten to unmoor my soul from its anchor.
We have to let the election process play out its course no matter how anxiety feeds our impatience.
Who doesn't want this to be over, already?
More than impatient, I am disappointed - deeply, deeply disappointed - that we are so divided as a nation. I am sure that every time I scratch my head and ask, "After four years of this madness, how could anyone vote for it to continue?" there is at least one other person who is scratching his head and asking, "After four years of this administration how could anyone vote for this not to continue?"
The only real certainty is that neither one of us understands the other. And so, yes, this Election Cake is us. All the ingredients are there. We still have the recipe for a great nation. The great experiment of democracy is still on-going and worthwhile. We just don't look it right now.
So, I'm mostly staying off social media today. I don't need the background chatter and noise. It hurts my heart. It deeply grieves my soul.
I'm mostly staying in prayer today, not because I think it will change the outcome of the election (I'm not that powerful) but because I know it will change me.
Be strong, my friends. Hold onto hope. Hold onto your faith. Hold onto your values and stay centered on them. Don't let anxiety or impatients move you into words or behavior that are too hot to come out of the pan.
Take shelter under the wings of the Spirit. She is waiting for us. She is our refuge. In her, we will find wisdom and strength and courage for the facing of these days.
And, know that no matter what happens, we will make it through. We have before. We will again.
Above all, know this: God loves us unconditionally.
And now, I'm going to slice up some of this Election Cake - I'll make it look prettier by drizziling some icing over it - and deliver it to some folks I know who are volunteering to make some people's lives a little bit better.
Why? Because I'm an American, that's why. I'm the proud daghter and granddaughter of immigrants who worked in the mills and factories and helped to build this country and make it great. We are part of the recipe for democracy. And, this is just what we do.
Immigrants! We get the job done.
Here's the link to the recipe for Election Cake: A Forgotten American Tradition
Note: I used Golden Raisins and Dried Cranberries. I did not use whiskey or apple juice or steeped Chai tea. I never got to that step. Or the icing. That said, it really was delicious. I will definitely make it again.
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