Facing the New Reality

Last night when I lay down to a restless sleep, things were not looking good for Hillary. I woke early this morning and lay in my dark bed for a long while—sick with the possibility of living in a world where Donald Trump would be the next president and not wanting to face the bad news.

At five a.m., upright for a trip to the bathroom, I could delay no longer and opened my laptop. One glance at the front page of the NY Times thrust me into a terrifying new world. Donald Trump will indeed be the next president of our country.

What will this mean for our fragile world order? What will this mean for how we treat people who are different from us? For our stewardship of the earth? For our capacity to discuss issues and make decisions with reference to observable facts? For our willingness to recognize the common interests that bind us together across our differences and toward our mutual destiny?

Dark thoughts fill my mind.

Even as I write this, however, I am conscious that the ‘fragile world order’ has already broken down for so many. The safety and predictability of life that I take for granted are actually the privilege of a small elite. The reality for many, even perhaps the majority of human beings, is a feeling of powerlessness in the face of systemic and personal disregard and even violence.

Trump’s election wakes me up to the fact that my sense of ‘things are basically OK’ is not shared with a huge portion of our country—and it’s not just people of color and the urban poor. A wide swath of white people live in a world where the most important aspects of their lives seem to be increasingly controlled by people and forces they deeply distrust. I suspect the level of uncertainty and discouragement I now feel mirrors the experience of many people who have swept Trump into the presidency.

Several hours have passed since I first heard the news. The shock is abating and I am beginning to take stock of this new landscape. I find myself in good company (even the plurality of the voters in this country). I am not hopeful, but perhaps Trump will surprise us all as did the ruthless and corrupt Lyndon Johnson who eventually used his power to push through ground-breaking civil rights legislation.

I am certain of the renewed importance of standing and acting together for a world of greater justice and equity for all. We are indeed woven together with all living beings. Our human work is to find something deeper than self-interest to help us move together to ameliorate and even solve the issues of this tender and suffering world.