Before the election, during the election, and now after the election, many of us "faith people" were trying hard to remind people not to put their faith in leaders, to trust in God, to not let their fears rule them. We knew that no matter what the outcome of this particular election, people on both sides were going to feel intense fear of "the other." Some would be living in fear that terrorism would increase if we were "weak" on dealing with groups like ISIS or border security, that their jobs would continue to disappear and their communities decline. That the way of life they had grown up with and always known would continue to alter and change in ways that frightened them. That rural communities were tired of having their voices stifled by an urban-based media and electorate.
Others feared that due to those who felt the aforementioned fears would transform into racism-inspired hate crimes, that policies would be put in place that would rip families apart, they would lose their healthcare, etc. etc. The fears on both sides were real fears.
As a pastor during this time, I have felt it was my job to try and steer people back to the source of our life, the source of all good, and the one who reassures us on an every day basis, "Do not fear." I root my faith and actions heavily on the calls of Jesus and in particular Revelation who speaks to the communities of faith that despite living in times of compromise, complacency, upheaval, persecution and deep fear, were called to remain non-violent witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To peacefully resist the pressures and violence of their culture, not by meeting hatred with hatred, but with faithful witness. God calls us to channel our fears into something else and to reassure us that even when it appears we are "losing"—we are really winning. (As a side note, Revelation also reminds us that evil rages when it knows it is losing. It behaves like a caged animal that is cornered and thus lashes out with the fiercest of death throes. So the more we spiritually combat that evil that lurks and threatens to overtake us—the more it rages against us. This does not mean that if you voted for either Hillary or Trump that you are evil—it means that evil incites our passions to be translated at times to commit violence because its how evil rages against being cornered.)
That doesn't mean we don't actually feel fear, or that if we do we somehow don't have "enough" faith. Fear and lament are all over the Bible, and are a deep part of the people of faith. The Psalms are filled with David's cries for help and protection as he struggled with his own deep fears of being killed. The prophets lamented and wore sackcloth and ashes on a regular basis as they watched injustice and hate overwhelm their cities and countries, and the destruction that would eventually ensue. In fact, there's an entire book called Lamentations addressing exactly that. There's a reason every time an angel of the Lord shows up the first thing he says is "Do not fear." It's an innate human feeling and response to anything we feel could threaten us or that we don't understand. I mean, let's face it... even Jesus' family fled in fear from Judea to Egypt to escape the edict of slaughter from King Herod. As he faced his impending execution, he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane not to have to go through what he would and was so stressed and fearful he was sweating blood.
Experiencing and feeling fear does not mean you don't have faith.
As I write this, my hands are shaking slightly—a side-effect from PTSD-driven anxiety I still suffer from following having been in a psychologically abusive relationship. The "fight or flight" response is real and puts physical stress on the body—no matter how much you may "will" it to be otherwise. We have triggers, things that cause us to instinctually go into self-preservation mode. The abusive rhetoric used in this election process has set off many of those trauma triggers for me and I'm aware of that. The question is not whether I have them and experience them—because I do—it is do I allow them to rule me? What actions (or inactions) does that fear I feel spur me toward? How can I channel that into something positive rather than something that causes more division, hatred and anxiety? (One of those actions is to write things like this, which hopefully helps people rather than harms them and allows us all to process what we are going through) How does it spur me to be a faithful witness to the love and promises of Jesus Christ, a voice of reason and champion for justice without causing shame, harm or even more hatred? It's a tough balance.
So the issue is not whether or not you feel fear or even anger. Of course you do. You're a human being. The question is: do you let that fear and anger rule you?
The story that keeps popping into my head is the story of Cain and Abel, and what God said to Cain, who was angry at the fact that his offering had been rejected by God, but Abel's had been accepted. God warned Cain, "sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it." It's the first warning God gives us about what happens when we let our emotions, anger and fear rule us. It results in the first violent and deadly act in the Bible...which would lead to a whole lot more.
No matter what side of the 'fence' you sit on, you feel a sense of fear about something and what that fear will drive others to do. Will the sin that lurks at the door with fear and its desires to take over us win, or will we master it? Sadly, as Cain's actions illustrate, our track record of mastering things like sin and fear isn't that great.
And it's not one-sided. Other friends are fearful of the people who are lashing out because "the other" group won. One friend posted about how they had graffiti all over their van and buildings at work that said, "Trump=racism." Some "anti-Trump" protestors are calling for violent responses to Republicans. So it doesn't matter which fear you are experiencing or who it is from—when it moves you to commit acts of hatred, destruction and violence, that is not mastering your fear. That is, quite simply, from the devil, no matter who is inciting the violence.
As a good friend of mine stated after her daughter was bullied in school with racial epithets the Wednesday after the election simply for being black,
"My faith has taught me to embrace tension and complexity. I can live by faith, while also see this unleashing of hate as [the] brokenness and sin that it is. I can see the child of God in each person—the cross overshadows any vote. I call for justice for all people as I live out my baptismal covenant—it is precisely HOW I live out my baptism. I give thanks for my faith which gives me room to live with the complexity of the pain shadowing this country. The pain of those who feel forgotten and abandoned and disenfranchised by this country. My faith lets me call out hate, to be incredibly angry. To fear for my children, while living by faith. To see the humanity in all people, knowing God is bigger and God is not finished. So I'm getting up and walking today, because I must live out my baptism, assuring my immigrant children they are safe, embracing my incredible anger in faith and deeply, deeply loving people who voted another way. Let us not divide but unite together as we condemn hate and hold our leaders accountable for the hate they spew. We Lutherans, especially, better know our history and what our indifference and hate produced in 1940s Germany. It is by faith, a faith that allows for complexity, that I go forth."In my case, my faith calls me to not just call out these acts of hatred, racism and violence, but to also call for more understanding from everyone on both sides. While I can easily demonize those who act on their racist fears and feel emboldened now to let it run amok, or conversely those who are reacting in violent ways to their fears of racism and bigotry... I know that will likely only make the situation worse. I don't know them or their lives or what has led to their deep-seeded hatred and fear.
So as I wrap up these kind of rambling thoughts... let us remember a wise Proverb:
“An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” Proverbs 12:25
Let us channel our anxious hearts into kind words. Let us speak to injustice, but speak as much as possible in words of love for "the other," especially those we deeply disagree with. (I do not do this perfectly, either, but is a goal I strive for.) And to remember, even Jesus, in the midst of faith and trust, still cried out on the cross in fear and despair, as he suffered death as a result of... fear and injustice.
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame." - Psalm 22
