What's Tony Thinking

Stay Calm and Carry On

It was a hard night and now a suitably grey morning here in Seattle.

And if you’re scratching your head in wonder and consternation that Big Orange continues to command such wide support among so many voters and in so many states, you aren’t alone. I’m right there with you.

But for right now I think the mantra of the Brits during the blitz is the right one, “Stay calm and carry on.” It ain’t over ’til it’s over, and it ain’t over yet.

Moreover, there is real reason to believe that despite the unexpected closeness, Biden will yet manage a win. This early morning report in The Daily Kos, while highlighting Trump’s 2:00 a.m. tantrum, sums up the situation in the following way:

“For everyone still asking ‘how can it be so close,’ the answer is: it’s not. Based on current projections, Joe Biden will win the White House with a greater popular vote margin than Hillary Clinton and somewhere north of 300 electoral votes. In any other cycle, we might not call that a blowout, but it would certainly be a solid win.”

And I return to the parable mentioned yesterday, the gospel text for this Sunday, (Matthew 25: 1 – 13) to invite myself and you to keep oil in our lamps and to keep our lamps burning brightly on this day after the election. I understand that the message of the parable is to keep alive our faith in God and the coming of his promised One.

But for me, at this moment, keeping faith in God and keeping faith in the electoral process are running neck and neck. Even if, as I think unlikely, Trump gets all that he needs to break his way, faith in God endures and we will need it more than ever.

But I think that break for Trump is unlikely. For now and in the words of the gospel hymn let’s, “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning.”

It is true that the election indicates that we are a nation deeply divided, more so than we had hoped. The days, weeks and years ahead will be challenging. But for now “Stay Calm and Carry On.”

And because humor may be, well is, absolutely necessary here’s a great piece by my friend Will Willimon, “A Prayer of Confession for Trump-Enabling Pastors.”