DC is going off - horns and firecrackers - like I haven't heard since we lived in Buenos Aires and the soccer team won the world cup.

There's too much to say in this moment...

But one thing I love most is this:

I took my Baltimore kids to the aquarium once, and caught the eyes of some of the other patrons as they took in my "city" kids, and looked disdainfully at them.

I've heard the kids I taught talk about being president someday...

What I love about this moment, is that never, ever again is anyone going to be able to look at them and say they can't because of their upbringing, background, or the color of their skin. They won't be able to say it because tonight we said "Yes we can, and Yes, they can."

Here's to them tonight. And to all of us in the days ahead.

Looking to follow the fun at home - Color in your very own Electoral College Map here
Cheers

The Star Spangled Banner's going back on display this year. It's been restored and patched up and loved on by gentle hands. It's a fragile fabric, and deserves tender care.

This morning, I stood quietly in line with my neighbors and cast my vote to peacefully change our government. That the particular event of Election Day has occured regularly and peacefully in our country really is a miracle.

From the steps of the high school where I waited, the Capitol dome could be clearly seen. And here was a "Good morning," and "Nice to see you," and "Don't worry - we'll hold your place in line."

And so this morning with a small library pencil to connect the pieces of a broken arrow, I put my little stitch into the history and the future of my country, which is also fragile, has had to be patched up from time to time, and deserves a tender care.

There were people helping their elderly Nana's and Aunts, whole families, and some who said, "Oh, I hope - I hope, been waiting 400 years." And that is really something. There were people bringing their sons and daughters and babies to stand with them in this moment, and that was something too.

And there was me, a girl from the plains of Texas casting her vote in the District, that's something as well.

Maybe that's the real fabric of the Star Spangled Banner - the very fiber of it, a nation standing together pulling together for our future. A stitch there, a patch there, a friendly poll worker, a chance to change what comes for us.

Go put your stitch in. And as a dear friend told me, "You've got to vote your heart." Not all the stitches have to go the same way, after all, the Banner's always been made of red and blue. Just completing that simple action, places your feet in the course of our history.

Debs for President

Now the story goes that when women finally got the vote, there was a dust up between my great grand-parents Lily and John. John was for Debs, Lily for the other guy. Lily asked John to drive her into town to cast her vote, and John said he wouldn't if she wasn't voting for Debs - disenfranchisement even then. Lily said that she'd just drive herself to town - good for her, I appreciate a strong-minded woman. At any rate, she cast her vote, and Debs didn't win, and life continued, and here we are in some ways asking still with him "Who shall save us from Congress?" among other things.

It really is striking how all our arguments come back around, still we are talking about socialism, still we are talking about the everyman, still there are poor little kids in the city who've never seen a live chicken, still we're talking about how to make all satisfied and wealthy. Much of Debs speech reminded me of Huey Long's speech. Maybe they should have been the ticket.

Rather than to address his many and lengthy arguments, what I found most striking was the intensely civil and warm tone. That those he has disagreed with have treated him with kindness and respect, and he apparently they. He also refrains from speaking ill of Republicans or Democrats. Can you imagine? People simply being neighborly - it seems like a fairy tale in our present and in our recent history. And I dare say that no one besides Debs has ever tipped his hat at the mention of Kansas, though my Grandma liked it greatly.

Now, despite his eloquent arguments that the time for competition has passed, that all men should join hands and bask in the strength of their work and the satisfied stomachs of their wives and children, and that this is possible when the individual submits himself to the will of the party (oh dear, someone is sure to bring up Ayn Rand in the comments now), I have to say that socialism has never, and will never work.

Though he seems perfectly clear that he believes religion or faith to serve no one, by virtue of one's service, the thing served becomes a god. One sacrifices to it to recieve favor, one binds oneself to it for protection, one exalts it because one has been smart enough to find it and perceive its wisdom.

These old human hearts are fallen. We've not in this twentieth century past managed to turn our swords into plowshares, now we've found weapons that make swords seem pitiful. We've not eradicated human slavery, we've not mastered our base desires that would see others lose at our gain. We gorge ourselves at the table while others go hungry. It is the same story as always, it is the perverted nature of humanity.

Presumably the nobility of socialism derives from the strength of the will of man united for his brother and for his children, and for himself. This is where it would derive it's admirable quality from, and yet a pig becomes no more noble simply because he stands with a large group of pigs, nay his smell is magnified, and multiplied. So we have seen also in history that in large groups man often does not become more noble, but less and this less often leads to dire consequences for someone. In order for that not to be the case, there must be something different and other than the soul and heart of man.

So where does that leave us...or rather here is my thought on the issue:

I don't think any real change to the human condition can be brought about by the election of one party or another. I believe that only an encounter with the God the Father through Christ His son can change a soul, can grant that soul a stand in nobility and grace and so give that soul a freedom in which to serve the people that soul encounters. Christ is the other the lifts a soul from it's fallen, brokeness and redeems the soul, refines and changes it, clothes it anew

And I bring this up because some have said the early church was socialist in nature. When the reality remains that the work of Christ on earth is more than can be encompassed in any political or social system. If it could be encompassed in say, socialism (or any other system), than surely through their legislative power the governments of the world by now would have provided us with world peace and satisfaction. They have not. I would say they have not because it is an impossible task for man.

What I think is that this Wednesday morning, there will still be children to serve in the city, children who need food, and warm clothes, and to know that the divine spark they bear confers upon them a dignity in their life. And I don't think that will come through legislation or mandated societal change. I believe that it comes in part through the work of the Church as the Body of Christ serving their neighbors.

Well just to wrap it up here, I'll return to how struck I was by Debs' gracious courteousy and tone. I'm sure my comments will ruffle some feathers, but I hope I've managed to state my case with a respect for the company I stand in.