As I write this, I don’t know who won. It’s Election-Day morning, before any results are in, and when all predictions point to a dead heat. By the time you read this, we will know who the next President will be. The suspense will be over. This Uplift is written, however, and will not change according to the results- because it shouldn’t matter. The crazy truth is that whomever you vote for, if your candidate loses, you probably will fear that it’s the beginning of the end. I have no answers to this “weird” state of affairs, except to point to two Bible stories that come to mind. One is Exodus, which chronicles the subjugation of the Israelites into slavery in Egypt, and their journey to freedom through the desert. They eventually reach the Promised Land, thanks to a merciful God, but only after 40 years of wandering, turmoil and bad decisions. The Israelites, amid the deprivation and frustration of a seemingly fruitless journey, finally reach the point of hopelessness, as we read in this Scripture from Exodus. They seem to be saying they prefer death over where God has led them. This is Exodus 15: “The Israelites said to them (Moses and Aaron), "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."
The other Bible story that comes to mind is the captivity of the Jewish people in Babylon, about 1,000 years after fleeing Egypt. They are forcibly removed from their homeland and marched off to Babylon, what is modern-day Iraq. This banishment also follows a series of bad decisions, most of which involve broken faith with God. During their 70-year captivity in Babylon, they lose many freedoms, including the one they hold most dear: the right to worship their God. This Psalm, number 137, expresses their state of mind: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.”
If this Uplift seems unfocused, it’s because these are perplexing times. It’s hard to get a handle on events. But there are two beliefs I cling to. The first, is that many times in the history of mankind things have looked bleak- at least for a time. Things can get dark, yet here we are. We endure. We are reading this in America in 2024, enjoying more privilege than any people in the history of mankind. Privilege, not only because of our abundance and easy access to material comfort, but because we live with the promise of freedom. And until there is evidence to the contrary, I will continue to believe that the arc of history will bend toward freedom and equality and human rights. It’s our job, as followers of Jesus, to do our best to see that it does. The stories of Exodus and Babylon remind us that things can get awful, but they can get better too. Even if it takes a long, long time.
The other belief that I lean on is that we are loved by a sovereign God who promises that we will endure, past the end of history. And that in this life, we are not alone. God is with us through every dark valley. This is illustrated beautifully in this Scripture from Exodus 13, as the Jewish people wonder in the desert- they are lost but not alone: "By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”
So, we live in hope. That’s my story, whatever happens in this election. The song pairing is “Devil Wind.” Until next time, stay safe, be brave and keep walking in the light.
Devil Wind
The devil wind is blowing
blowing hard in from the East
and there’s a full moon rising
no way to tame the beast
Sweeping ‘cross the Borrego sands
rattling our windows and doors
a lone coyote’s howling
out on the desert floor
Everything around here baby
is dry as a bone
and it’s the same old game,
someone gets too careless
and everything goes up in flames
On the ridge a brush fire’s burning
we are packed and ready to go
tonight our fate will be decided
by which way the devil wind blows
No Matter Who Wins