You can’t miss the fact that we are just a few days away from the primary here in New Hampshire. I have to admit that I’ve been a bit removed from all the primary craziness. Our lack of a land line and TV at home have sheltered me from the worst of it. Add to that the fact that I’m a millennial and have no voting record in the state, and there’s no reason for any of the campaigns to think I’m a worthwhile target.
In some ways, I’ve been grateful to be a step removed. Like many in my generation, I’ve become disillusioned with our government, and its ability to make any real impact, to get us any closer to a more just and peaceful world. I’ve lost my faith that any particular candidate is going to make that much of a difference.
Ironically, though, the one thing I haven’t lost my faith in is the power of voting.
As Unitarian Universalists, we put our faith in the democratic process, that fragile, yet powerful way of making decisions. Fragile, because it depends on us fallible humans to make decisions. Powerful, because it depends on the will of the people to get things done.
I’ll never forget the rush of empowerment I felt the first time I went into one of those little makeshift booths and cast my vote when I was 18. Three years later, I attended my first General Assembly and felt that same rush each time I lifted my voting card–even for those votes that were mostly symbolic.
For me, voting is always an act of faith. We cannot know if our vote will make a difference. We cannot know if who or what we are voting for will change our world for the better. All we can do is accept the great privilege and responsibility of being a part of the democratic process, and take a leap of faith.
So I will be voting in the primary on Tuesday, if for no other reason than to feel the rush that I still feel each time I cast a vote. If for no other reason than that my faith tells me to affirm and promote the democratic process. If for no other reason than that I do believe, despite it all, that the arc of our universe is in fact bending towards justice, and you never know when a single vote might just help it bend a little further.
I hope you’ll join me in living out our faith and casting your vote on Tuesday.
Blessings,
Allison