In this week’s newsletter (read the full issue here), Rev. Jen Crow writes:

This week I have found myself swept up in memory differently than I have in other mid-term election weeks. I’ve been remembering the sense of hope I carried on the last big election day, my belief that I and our country were part of a forward, progressive movement. I’ve been remembering the disbelief I felt as the election results rolled in that evening, how the one adult person of color in the room kept predicting Trump’s win with calm clarity. I’ve been remembering holding my kids the next day and their gasping sobs as they worried that they would be taken away from me and my wife because we are lesbians. I remember the service we held at church that night and the deep need to be together – to shore up our faith in each other and what we knew to be right.

All of these memories have been with me as I’ve moved through this week, and I wonder what memories have been present for you. What ghosts of elections past have been right at your side, bringing their worries and joys into your days? History can offer us hope, and it can carry deep hurt, too.

With the mid-term elections behind us this week, the feelings I’ve encountered are all over the map – both internally and externally. Here are a few of them:

• Joyful
• Exhausted
• Relieved
• Hopeful
• Fearful
• Alive with the work and responsibility of democracy
• Feeling awake – hate, racism, and white-supremacy are alive in our country
• Grateful to live in Minnesota
• Tired
• Reminded of the importance of local elections and deep involvement
• Wary
• Disheartened that the soul of our country is still sick
• Pockets of hope
• Thrilled about the vote being returned to people who have committed a felony in Florida
• Worn out

I know there are other feelings out there this week, and as the news continues to roll in, my hope is that we might be gentle with ourselves and each other – making space for rest and renewal, finding ways to settle our body, mind and spirit. May the engagement so many of us felt in this election stay with us, that we might live awake and aware and engaged, building the world we dream about.

In faith,
Jen