Hope and an Opportunity for Redemption: Now the Hard Work Begins

Yesterday, January 20, was the dawn of a new day for our nation. After four years of incompetence and cruelty, and the stress of the person in the White House harming our country, dividing our people, and pillaging and grifting, we now have a president focused on serving this country, and trying to make it a better place. He won’t be perfect, but he will strive to serve the people and bring us together to overcome extreme challenges. He will not do this work alone. He has put a team of experts together to help him. And I believe he will inspire us to action in the most basic of ways.

You see, one of the common threads in stories in our society is that of redemption. Americans will at times recoil at the shock of a fallen hero, who if they show contrition and take a very purposeful path toward redemption, often they are given their second chance. On a less visible level all of us have gone through life attempting and, at times failing at something, but with grace, often we are given second chances. One of our core religious concepts in the three great monotheistic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) is that of repentance and forgiveness, and this seems to manifest in our society as an opportunity for second chances. But it takes repentance and hard work for the fallen to come back to grace.

I believe that our country now has a chance for redemption. After the election of a man who brought out the worst in many of us, who stoked the fires of division among us, who gave the fires of white supremacy oxygen by condoning (actively and passively) their behavior, we found ourselves at the literal depths of despair, with a raging pandemic and an awakening to racial injustice and a struggling economy. We realized how far we had fallen awakened a sense of moral urgency to mobilize, and in so doing, elected a competent, kind, experienced man (and first female VP!) to the highest office in the land. In so doing, we put in the hard work to get ourselves on the path of redemption, to being our country backs toward grace and greatness.

But know that now that we have elected them, they will not save us. Not even with all the scientists and experts and “smartest people in the room” of their fields of expertise. This is going to still require all of us to put in the hard work. Having partners in government working for the American people is the first step, but we will need to put the work in. How do we do that, you might ask? Are you ready for this? We do it by showing kindness, respect and empathy toward each other, day-by-day. We turn to the core tenet of the three faiths, love, and put love into action. If we do this toward ourselves, then our families, friends, co-workers, communities, churches, downs and cities, well you see how this grows. We search to truth when we share information on social media, and before we post, think about how these words would land if we spoke them out loud the another person? Would we say them out loud? (If not, we should reconsider what we post in the public space.) Our words and actions have an impact. We saw it at the ballot box. Now let’s live those small acts and see how these acts will rebuild our country and restore our place in the world.

This is not a plea for us to “just forgive” those who need to face justice. There are people who truly do need to be held accountable for their role in hurting our country and most recently and visibly in the Capitol riots of January 6. They should not just be forgiven for an event that nearly led to the deaths of our elected officials. Those who were in the building and those who incited them must be brought to justice. One must allow light on the wound to see it, and then treat it before you can heal. So let us continue to push for justice and atonement through the legal and constitutional means before us. But while we do so, let’s restore civility and kindness in our daily discourse. Let’s challenge ourselves to read and grow and treat ourselves and others with respect. If we put in the work in in our own lives, I can’t wait to see what we will achieve as a country.