By Bruce Epperly <\/em><\/p>\nLike many progressives, I was disheartened by last night\u2019s election results.\u00a0 The conservative turn in politics threatens to plunge our nation into two years of gridlock at a time when we need creative solutions to our current economic malaise and the plight of America\u2019s shrinking middle class and growing underclass.\u00a0 The small forward movements toward justice in health care and honesty in banking, Wall Street, and business may be stalled by a tidal wave of smaller government proposals at a time when governments need to be imaginative and bold.<\/p>\n
But now is not the time for apocalyptic thinking \u2013 to foresee the end of the progressive era or the repeal of what we have fought hard to achieve.\u00a0 Despite short-term reversals, progressives \u2013 in faith and politics \u2013 are by nature optimistic and future-oriented.\u00a0 In spirituality, progressives believe that the future is open and that the divine calls us to look forward rather than backward to find our destiny.\u00a0 With Martin Luther King, progressives affirm that \u201cthe moral arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice.\u201d\u00a0 Our faith is that the future belongs to the imaginative and persistent.<\/p>\n
The story is told of the night of the falling stars.\u00a0 As they saw the falling stars, the villagers panicked.\u00a0 Running to and fro, they shouted to one another, \u201cThe sky is falling, the sky is falling. The world is coming to an end.\u201d\u00a0 In their panic, they knocked on the door of the wise woman and man of the village, crying out, \u201cthe sky is falling, the stars are falling.\u201d\u00a0 The wise ones looked at the heavens and then calmly noted, \u201cYes, the stars are falling, but look at all of the stars that remain in place!\u201d<\/p>\n
Now is the time for progressives to look at the stars that remain in place.\u00a0 In family and congregational systems theory, mature leaders aspire to be a \u201cnon-anxious presence\u201d in a world of turmoil.\u00a0 While we may feel anxious, we don\u2019t need to be ruled by our anxiety.\u00a0 The times call for big picture thinking, for calm resolution, and the willingness to meet in the middle \u2013 whether we call ourselves liberal or conservative.\u00a0 We need to reclaim a sense of peace that enables us to act wisely, looking to long-term achievements rather than to immediate gratification.\u00a0 This is what it means to be mature, to have personal stature, and to plan wisely.\u00a0 This is the prophetic voice: always discontent with the present, but always living in terms of God\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
While it is not for me to give politicians too much advice, I will say to progressives \u2013 and hopefully conservatives as well \u2013 that now is the time to breathe deeply, listen to our better angels, go beyond ego and power, and look toward what is best for the nation and the world.<\/p>\n
We have big problems to solve right now; we can\u2019t wait till 2012 and the next presidential election.\u00a0 Our calling is to be faithful persons of stature, grounding our politics and faith in embracing otherness as well as advocating for our own visions.\u00a0 This is a matter of spiritual maturity, grounded in a commitment to prayer, imaginative hospitality, and willingness to see the holy in our opponents as well as companions on the political and spiritual journey.\u00a0 It is a matter of moving from self-interest to national-interest and then world loyalty, to taking the long view rather than momentary results.\u00a0 The sky is not falling; the long arc of history moves toward justice and shalom.<\/p>\n
Bruce Epperly is a professor and administrator at Lancaster Theological Seminary and co-pastor of an open and affirming emerging congregation in Lancaster, PA, Disciples United Community Church.\u00a0 He is the author of seventeen books, including\u00a0Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living<\/span>, a progressive theological and spiritual response to Rick Warren\u2019s\u00a0Purpose Driven Life. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Like many progressives, I was disheartened by last night\u2019s election results. But now is not the time for apocalyptic thinking \u2013 to foresee the end of the progressive era or the repeal of what we have fought hard to achieve. Despite short-term reversals, progressives \u2013 in faith and politics \u2013 are by nature optimistic and future-oriented. In spirituality, progressives believe that the future is open and that the divine calls us to look forward rather than backward to find our destiny.” Bruce Epperly calling us forward after yesterday’s election results…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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