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Let the Healing Begin
Nov. 7th, 2012 11:28 amThis was the scariest election that I can remember. The nation is so polarized. Everybody was demonizing everybody else. People on both sides genuinely believed (and, I'm sure, still do believe) that the soul of the nation was in the balance. Huge proportions of the population woke up Tuesday convinced that they needed to speak up for the sake of the nation.
Here in my small town, with no local races on the battle except a zoning matter (whether we would allow smaller lot sizes in the center of town when most people live outside the center and wouldn't be affected) 83% of us voted. We're a pretty solid blue state. No one here felt that our presidential ballot would change the election results, and yet 83% of us came out. This was a passionate election.
It is done. I wanted to say that it's all done but the shouting and the counting, but I am terribly, terribly afraid that that would be prophetic. Because that is the last thing we need. We need to count every vote and make sure every voice is heard, but after the counting is done, we need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start trying to build something together! We need to remember the old saying about hanging together lest we should hang separately. We're a country that has enormous will and energy, and a proud tradition of working together for common goals. Like siblings, we bicker, and grouse, and point fingers as we do it, but attack one of us, and the rest of us pile on the attacker. Lately we've been forgetting that. We've been forgetting that we're all in this TOGETHER. There's very little we can't do if we all work with a will for our common goals. If we concentrate on our commonalities, if we all concentrate on what we agree on, if we all agree to disagree with civility, giving each other the benefit of the doubt, nothing can stop us. Because that's who we are.
Here in my small town, with no local races on the battle except a zoning matter (whether we would allow smaller lot sizes in the center of town when most people live outside the center and wouldn't be affected) 83% of us voted. We're a pretty solid blue state. No one here felt that our presidential ballot would change the election results, and yet 83% of us came out. This was a passionate election.
It is done. I wanted to say that it's all done but the shouting and the counting, but I am terribly, terribly afraid that that would be prophetic. Because that is the last thing we need. We need to count every vote and make sure every voice is heard, but after the counting is done, we need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start trying to build something together! We need to remember the old saying about hanging together lest we should hang separately. We're a country that has enormous will and energy, and a proud tradition of working together for common goals. Like siblings, we bicker, and grouse, and point fingers as we do it, but attack one of us, and the rest of us pile on the attacker. Lately we've been forgetting that. We've been forgetting that we're all in this TOGETHER. There's very little we can't do if we all work with a will for our common goals. If we concentrate on our commonalities, if we all concentrate on what we agree on, if we all agree to disagree with civility, giving each other the benefit of the doubt, nothing can stop us. Because that's who we are.
