Voting is a Spiritual Practice

Do your part to strengthen democracy as a way of life - and have your say in the common good

A few years ago, I participated in project called “Practicing Democracy.” The organizers asked each of us if we engaged in any spiritual practices of citizenship. I confess: I’d never thought of democracy involving spiritual practices!

But as the conveners stated:

Democracy is more than the system of government. It is a way of life based on our commitment as citizens to the common good. We can assess the vitality of any democracy by looking at its history, its current state, and its potential to serve the hopes and dreams of its people. But the truest measure of its health is how well it is practiced.

Central to practicing democracy is voting, our “say” in that way of life.

The simple ritual of casting a ballot is, indeed, a practice — a repeated action over time that speaks to the larger story of citizenship and character. We might have developed personal practices around casting our votes — taking children or grandchildren to the polls, voting at a particular time, having coffee with friends after casting a vote, or driving people to the polls. I know people who pray or meditate before voting. I know others who sing a hymn or patriotic song.

But voting is the basic act of democratic citizenship. Voting is something we do for ourselves and for those who come after us.

I urge you to vote on Tuesday. I urge you to do so not out of frustration or fear, but from a sense of profound commitment to the common good. Remember gratefully all the benefits of decency and democracy. Dream of a future where our nation flourishes — not only for the health and benefit of our people and land but to our neighbors and the planet.

Choose wisely. VOTE.

Democracy is a spiritual thing, a participatory effort requiring virtue, debate, intelligence, and modesty. Plutocracy fits a superpower much more readily; it is far more efficient: government of the few, by the few, and for the few.

— Matthew Fox

If you need a reminder about how beautifully connected we are — and the power of citizenship — I invite you to watch this 12-minute video about a little-remembered event on 9/11. It is about regular people stepping up to do the right thing no matter what.

I sent this out to the paid Cottage community on Saturday, and they requested that I send it to the entire group.

Let’s vote remembering the power of connection, the power of goodness, the power of unity. The common good is real. We just take it for granted.

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American friends: Vote this Tuesday.
Democracy is on the edge of the island. And your vote is your boat.

To our friends across the world: Please pray for us.
We needed you after 9/11. And we really need you now.

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Democracy is not a spectator sport.

— Marian Wright Edelman

PRAYERS FOR ELECTION DAY

Give us, O God,
leaders whose hearts are large enough
to match the breadth of our own souls
and give us souls strong enough
to follow leaders of vision and wisdom.
In seeking a leader, let us seek
more than development for ourselves —
though development we hope for —
more than security for our own land —
though security we need —
more than satisfaction for our wants —
though many things we desire.
Give us the hearts to choose the leader
who will work with other leaders
to bring safety
to the whole world.
Give us leaders
who lead this nation to virtue
without seeking to impose our kind of virtue
on the virtue of others.
Give us a government
that provides for the advancement
of this country
without taking resources from others
to achieve it.
Give us insight enough ourselves
to choose as leaders those who can tell
strength from power,
growth from greed,
leadership from dominance,
and real greatness from the trappings of grandiosity.
We trust you, Great God,
to open our hearts to learn from those
to whom you speak in different tongues
and to respect the life and words
of those to whom you entrusted
the good of other parts of this globe.
We beg you, Great God,
give us the vision as a people
to know where global leadership truly lies,
to pursue it diligently,
to require it to protect human rights
for everyone everywhere.
We ask these things, Great God,
with minds open to your word
and hearts that trust in your eternal care.
— Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB

SOURCE OF ALL BLESSINGS,
you bless us with warning
voices — poets, prophets,
thinkers who dare to speak against
the current of accepted norms, to
question, at the risk of their good
standing, their careers, even their
lives. May I have ears to hear these
lonely voices of Common Sense,
so often nearly drowned out by the
din of public opinion, and to heed
them, take their message to heart,
weigh it, and let it change my life.
— Br. David Steindl-Rast

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NEW AT THE COTTAGE!

Today I’m announcing a brand new addition to The Cottage: a subscriber chat.

This is a conversation space in the Substack app that I set up exclusively for my subscribers — kind of like a group chat or live hangout. I’ll post short prompts, thoughts, and updates that come my way, and you can jump into the discussion.

To join our chat, you’ll need to download the Substack app (messages are sent via the app, not email). Turn on push notifications so you don’t miss a chance to join conversation as it happens.

Right now you can only get this feature on iOS — but Android is coming soon. And they good folks at Substack tell me that a laptop version is on the way, too. I’m sorry that chat is a bit limited now — but it will soon be available in all formats!

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How to get started

1. Download the app by clicking this link or the button below. Chat is only on iOS for now, but chat is coming to the Android app soon.

2. Open the app and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a row for my chat inside.

3. That’s it! Jump into my thread to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.

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ON ELECTION DAY, I WILL BE ON THE CHAT in the EVENING. If you are signed up to receive notifications, you’ll receive a message on your phone when I open the ELECTION NIGHT THREAD and you can jump right in.

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A patriot . . .wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained. A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well — and wishing that it would do better.

― Timothy Snyder

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