At age 57, this is not my first election, but it certainly the one that I have felt most passionately about.   I have voted for members of both parties for President.  I have always thought that there are good and bad ideas within each party.   I have never been committed to party over country.   At age 18 I registered as a Republican, many years ago, and in recent years have moved to the Democrats, but fundamentally I’m an Independent - holding some beliefs that mirror those of both parties.

As a nation, we have sat wringing our hands, and likely for different reasons, and waited for the election winner to be declared.  Today we learned that the race for the presidency has been called and Joe Biden is now President Elect Biden.   I’ve watched the spontaneous celebrations erupt on television and recognize the need to celebrate for the moment.  Dan Rather wrote today - “Sportsmanship is being joyous in victory, without gloating. And it is being sad in defeat without being a sore loser. It is a standard I hope we can ultimately achieve.”

Today I find my mind moving to the question that needs to be foremost in our mind as Americans.   How do we heal our Nation?  This is not the first time as a country that we have found ourselves at odds, most notably the Civil War, we were a deeply divided nation.  At that time we had a leader in Abraham Lincoln, who many revere as one of our greatest presidents.   However, few people thought so on March 4, 1865, the day he took the oath of office for the second time.  In his inaugural address of about 700 words he argued that all Americans—North and South—shared culpability for the unimaginable horrors the nation had endured.   If you want to read more about this time in our history click HERE.

I believe that our situation is, unfortunately, not too different today.   We may not be emerging from a Civil War but as a nation we are as deeply divided as ever in our history.   Our grand experiment is at risk.   As Benjamin Franklin once responded when asked what type of government we had, “A republic, if we can keep it”.   As Americans we need to understand that this is a very real challenge and that it requires all of our efforts to rebuild the trust we need to have for our fellow Americans that will allow us to thrive as a nation.  

Within my own family we have those who are celebrating today and those who have great concerns for our future.   I have said recently in a post that I have a hard time respecting those that have shown support for Trump.     I recognize that this failure on my part, this perspective will not help in the healing that must happen if we are to move forward as a nation, and I am committing to change and to be better.   I know I have family, friends, and neighbors who have the same concerns for our republic with the results of the election, just as I did 4 years ago.   We all have great love for this country of ours.

A friend of mine shared an article Mitch Albom wrote in the Detroit Free Press that the “election will be meaningless if we don’t change our ways”.  If you want to read the whole article you can find it HERE.

There were some powerful points to contemplate in his column that are well worth pondering.   And in an introspective way.  The kind of introspection that motivates us to be better.   As I read I needed to reflect on my own role in the ongoing national tension.  I do not think I have been mean or rude to others, and there has been more than one time that I have bloodied my tongue to keep peace, but I do have to recognize that all of us have a role in the current unrest and in civility.  

“An American president, when he wakes up, doesn’t step off a cloud. He is a representative, nothing more. What will he represent? What will we represent? Think about the friends we’ve lost this election season. The neighbors we’ve alienated. Who will we be on Wednesday, Thursday and beyond.

I know this: If the winners gloat and the losers threaten, we won’t be any better than we’ve been the last six months. And does anyone really want the country of the last six months to be the country of the next four years?”   - Mitch Albom

I know that we can be a better country and I am committed to working over the next four years to be a part of the solution and not part of the problem.