The Day After
I wrote this the week before. ❤️
I’m writing this on October 29, in one of my favorite cafes. My coffee is so hot that I can barely sip it, and I forgot my headphones, so I’m being forced to listen to an acoustic version of Every Step You Take instead of my typical Hogwarts ambiance YouTube videos.
I wanted to intentionally write to you before the election, for a letter to be delivered after the election1. I wanted to challenge myself to dig down deep between my ribs and find truths that would ring true + stay true no matter what the outcome was or what chaos ensued on election day. As of October 29, this race is incredibly close. The difference is a squeak, a margin, a cough. It’s a few people deciding it’s worth the drive in the autumn rain to vote.
Something I’ve always been remarkably proud of is how wide and vast my sweet letter-readers are. I have diehard MAGA folk; I have tried-and-true Democrats; I have weary Republicans; I have hippie anarchists; I have AOC-adoring socialists; I have libertarians; I have American Solidarity Party voters; I have people who write-in third party candidates they admire. I probably have people who don’t vote, although I’ll wince and remind you that people died for you to have that right so, ahem, I do hope you used it.
I don’t say that to imply that I’m rolling in the riches from my miles of audience. I say it because what it tells me is that there’s something for everyone in these parts. I’m proud that so many of you really do find a digital home here.
But what it means is that days like today are tricky, right? They just are. Because some of you are really happy and some of you are really upset. Most of you are really, really tired. A lot of people who read these letters are people who care deeply about the world around them out of a deep love for Jesus + neighbor. This can lead us to feeling like we need to breathe out of a paper bag when Large Political News upsets our belief of What Should Happen. As a result of these tendencies, you2 might engage in: