October 29 Update from Eliana Maxim & Tali Hairston
Seattle Presbytery
Dear friends,
In a few short days, the nation will enter another challenging moment as the results of the 2020 election are released. These past months have highlighted a bitterly divided country, a relentless pandemic that has robbed us of over 230,000 loved ones and further exposed the ugly reality of white supremacy and racism in our country. No matter the results of this election, some will rejoice and others will not. Yet in and through all the politics, protests, and pandemic is the story of God’s kingdom, the inbreaking kin-dom of shalom that we are called to strive and yearn for.
The election results will not erase the grief or loss so many have experienced. Our longing for a mask-less existence will continue. The anxiety of the unemployed masses, hungry families, the unhoused and sheltered, and the children separated from their parents at the border will continue to require our prayers and advocacy.
Perhaps we have been made more aware, conscious, or even drawn closer to the hurting and fragile existence many of our neighbors globally experience. Possibly, we are closer to our own fragility.
God is never without purpose in the redemption of the human condition. We know God is touched by our brokenness.
If, as Augustine wrote, “our hearts are restless until they rest with Thee (God)”, then regardless of who wins what office, we are called to keep our hands to the plow. We continue to work while it is day.
Despite the restlessness many of us are experiencing, we look to God who knows intimately the hungry and hurting, the unclothed and unhoused, and of communities crying out for kindness and justice.
Thanks be to God, the Gospel is still the Good News and compels us to be people of word and action earnestly seeking God’s Kingdom, God’s will, God’s shalom for all people no matter how anxious the season.
We invite you into a time of prayerful reflection these days leading up to the election results; may God’s spirit of trust and faith be poured out over the whole nation, may peace prevail over this land. For those seeking a shared space of music and litany post election, please consider this offering sponsored by our siblings at Coastland Commons and Lake Burien Presbyterian Church.
In grace and peace,
Eliana Maxim & Tali Hairston
Seattle Presbytery