All good things...

Photo courtesy of National Park Service

All good things must come to an end, or so the saying goes. Today is Election Day in these “United” States of America and the country is as not-united as I have ever witnessed it. Stores are boarding up their windows in anticipation of civil unrest regardless of who wins. Are you as sick of all this as I am? 

I was in California at the start of this year and saw an election themed t-shirt proclaiming support for “Any Functioning Adult”. I’m not sure that’s what we’ve ended up with after a truly dismal election cycle but we clearly have a clear choice as America lurches to the polls (assuming you’re not one of the majority who have already cast their ballots prior to today.)

Did we get this?

Everyone is saying we won’t even know tonight who the winner is (perhaps the T.V. networks would have better served us if they had postponed their hours of coverage until tomorrow evening) and one side is already announcing they have a team of lawyers set to contest the results should they end up on the losing side. Yet it’s America who has really lost, regardless of who garners the magical 270 Electoral College votes this evening (actually we won't know for sure until December 14th). There’s more than enough blame to be hurled around by both sides but can anyone really argue we as a country are in a better place today? I know, I know, some would resolutely say “Yes!”, but truly they must be in the minority. 

Some wounds take a long time to heal, while some never do. Again, regardless of who “wins” tonight, the changes wrought during the last four years (be they good, bad, or indifferent in your opinion) will likely last far longer than the time they took to inflict. Love him or hate him, Mr. Trump has irrevocably changed  this country we call home and we will be living with the ripple effect for generations. It’s good that so many Americans have decided to participate in their civic duty this year. It is after all our country; it does not belong to Mr. Trump or Mr. Biden. And it is us, 300+ million strong, who in the days, months, and years to come must still decide and come to grips with what we want this “one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” to look like. I don’t think God was in line at the polling site this morning but if so, may she continue to bless America.

And may we hope that another old proverb comes true: 

"All's well that ends well."