A Letter from Father Phil on this Day after the Election

Dear members of the Trinity community: 

Without a doubt, we have been living through what has been an extraordinarily divisive and fraught election season. The lack of a clear result means the stress and anxiety that many of us are feeling is likely to continue for some time. Living with uncertainty – as we have for so much of this year – wears on all of us, so I encourage you to take care of yourselves and one another during this turbulent time. 

The results of the election will not, however, change our mission. We are still called to love our neighbors as ourselves; to be Jesus’ arms and feet in the world by feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, visiting the prisoner.  If anything, because of the inevitable scars this election will leave on our country, we will need to do even more – to love one another more, to serve those on the margins more, to fight for racial justice more. 

In the coming days, as the political rhetoric remains highly charged, I encourage you to remember that we are all children of God – yes, even the people who did not vote the same way you did. This is not a platitude; it’s fundamental to who we are as Christians, and it is decidedly hard work. It means leaving behind our assumptions and judgments, and then loving one another as God sees and loves us.  

During this horrific year, I have been and continue to be awed by the support our Trinity community has provided to one another and to the most vulnerable in our city. Our work is far from over, and that will be true no matter who ultimately wins the election. We continue to live amid a pandemic, racial reckoning, and now face the aftereffects of an election characterized by division and mistrust. These are trying times, so let us continue to uphold one another. 

I hope you will join me in praying for our community, our city, and our nation during this time of conflict: 

Oh God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  

Blessings, 

Phil