A Wider Hope

While political pundits tweet
that on the day after the election
nearly half of America will wake
believing we are doomed,
I hold a wider dream.

The possibility that indeed we will awake
remembering our souls,
remembering who we are to each other,
that is, our need,
across all the bounds that keeps us apart.

The possibility that it is not on the results that we depend
but upon what is at work in the unfolding –
this fall containing the bright blooms of spring,
this death holding the surprise of new life,
these challenges and possibilities in this present now.

The possibility that this 240 year old experiment
called the United States of America
is an experiment worth remembering,
reworking, recalling to strength
to work together
for greater love, deeper justice, a wider hope.
Remember that it is in the struggle
that we are called to change.

Huddled here in the dug out
in the rain delay,
may we remember who we are
and what we live for –
that the game is not yet over –
perhaps, we’ve just begun
as on the day after the election
each must rise and ask –
What kind of person do I want to be?
What kind of relationship do I want with my neighbor?
What kind of nation do I pledge to dream together?

Peter Ilgenfritz
November 7, 2016