My young friend, William, a fellow Christian Scientist, gave me permission to share this post. It was the first post I stumbled upon when I awakened in the middle of the night all shivering and scared a couple days ago. I found it really helpful. I’m hoping it will be helpful to you, too –

“It’s taken me a while to process my thoughts on recent events, as I’m sure is also the situation with many of you. I am really trying to apply my faith to this situation and see the good at work- it’s hard, but it’s worth it. I’ve been holding to the concept that ‘Divine Love alone governs man…’

“Every generation faces a challenge. 70 years ago, the Greatest Generation faced the spread of fascism over the globe and rose to the occasion- nothing like it has been seen before or since. This is our moment where we get to decide if we are the next greatest generation, or the ‘whatever’ generation that didn’t get out and vote in great enough numbers to stop this from happening. We are confronted with a frightening human picture- one where an administration that bases its power on xenophobia, hatred, racism, sexism, homophobia and dismissal of sexual assault has taken over all the branches of our government. But if we are afraid, then that means we have truly lost. As long as we don’t let fear win, there is hope. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but it is our responsibility to ensure that our friends and neighbors are kept safe and loved, that our environment is not destroyed, that entire groups of people are not deported, demonized, and victimized, and that our country doesn’t turn to the dystopian future that seems so popular in Hollywood these days. If the law and the government won’t protect everyone in the United States, we will. We can’t leave for Canada or anywhere else. We have to stay and fight. But we can’t fight fire with fire. Hatred must be met with love, fear must be met with courage, violence must be met with forgiveness and peace.

“Along these lines, we can’t stoop to demonizing people, especially if we are resisting an administration that got where it is by doing so. We need to acknowledge the good in everyone and find ways to constructively work together, without excusing bad behavior. Half of our country isn’t monsters. I still believe that. And many positions that those take on the opposing side are understandable and sometimes even laudable. I myself was nominally a moderate before the last few months permanently changed how I viewed this country. We must strive to understand what led them to make this decision and find ways to constructively address their grievances. At the same time, it is up to our generation to finally confront and permanently destroy the systemic racism, bigotry, intolerance, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia that is still apparently a major part of the fabric of this country. Previous generations have tried and have made great strides- now we must finish the race. It’s heartening to me that, if only under-25 votes had been counted, she would have won over 500 electoral votes. This demonstrates to me that there is hope in our generation.

“I still believe that we have a shining future ahead of us. One where we are completely powered by sustainable energy, where we have advanced technologically and spiritually enough to stop destroying our environment, where our nation has grown up enough to look past outward appearances and different opinions and love everybody, no exceptions, where we have left Earth and explored the stars, where we have saved all of God’s precious endangered creations here on Earth, where nobody goes hungry or without needed care, where the income gap is narrowed, and where anybody can be anything they want. All of this WILL happen if we make it happen. Let us take this election as a wakeup all that galvanizes us to redouble our efforts towards a brighter future. We CAN do it!

“Fight the good fight, and surely we shall prevail!”
– William Whittenbury