It is Wednesday. The day after what seems to have been one of the hardest, most painful elections that anyone can remember. If you look at the numbers that continue to pour in, the country is evenly divided on the choice for president. It is almost scary how close the split is – currently I am looking at 47.7% of the votes for one and 47.5% of the votes for the other. But that has less impact on the candidates than it does for all of us. It means that in our daily lives, all of the people we encounter are people who were evenly split on who was best to lead our country. Basically, half the country woke up excited and half saddened.
But, for all of the country – whether it is the half that chose the president-elect, or the half that chose the losing candidate – all of us were wrong if we felt that the president was the one truly responsible for bringing the change. It is, and always has been, our responsibility.
We the people –
are the ones to make a country great.
We the people –
are responsible to ensure that all people are treated with respect and kindness.
We the people –
must speak up for those who are denied a voice.
We the people –
have to put an end to racism and injustice.
We the people –
are responsible for caring for those in need.
We the people –
are the ones to show integrity and honor.
We the people –
must be the people God created us to be.
It is Wednesday. The day after a vote that left half of us happy and half of us sad. But, it is a new day. Today, and everyday hereafter – it is our responsibility to act and speak with respect and integrity. We must not denigrate the candidate who did not win – why continue to hurt someone who lost? We must not disrespect the people who voted for issues or candidates in ways we do not understand. (They don’t understand our votes, either.) In her concession speech, Secretary Clinton offered this important advice for us in regard to the president-elect, “We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead.” Everyone should be able to agree with that statement.
Finally, most importantly, we bear the responsibility to bring about change for our country and our world. We can only do that if we treat one another with respect and kindness. We all want to live in a country that is great (great for ourselves and great for all of the world) and we can do that if we remember that we are better, stronger, and greater – together.
