There Will Be A Wednesday

Elections are important. This election is important. Our political ideas and affiliations are important. How we vote is important. 

But none of these things are singularly important. They are important pieces in much larger, richer puzzles. It's important to see those puzzles in their entireties and to intentionally focus on the bigger picture, even and especially as the smaller picture is coming to resolution. 

Tuesday is important. There will be a Wednesday.

And Wednesday will be important--perhaps more important than Tuesday in many ways. To prepare for Wednesday, we might decide ahead of time to keep some important truths in mind: 

America is bigger than one election. 

America is more than its President, control of its Congress, and its judiciary. 

Democracy is an agreement that we're all responsible for implementing. Democracy is a fire we're all responsible for attending.

If we want to trust our institutions, we can start by forgiving them. 

If we want a President worthy of the office, we can start by supporting that President. 

If we want a Congress that works, we can give our representatives space to do that work. 

If we want a process of integrity, we can start by respecting the outcome of that process. 

We can ask questions without issuing condemnations. 

We can seek greater accountability without criminalizing that with which we disagree. 

We can improve our process by first seeking to better understand it. 

People are complicated. People are more than our candidates of choice. People are more than our ideologies. People believe things for reasons we might not fully understand. 

Voting is the easiest exercise of our civic duty. The real work is in paying attention, caring, communicating, and finding the best way to contribute from where we are. 

We can be the change we want to see in the world, and that's true no matter who wins. 

There will be a Wednesday, and we can choose to make Wednesday a day that we can be proud of.