Welcome to Spirit Expressing with Rev. Ed Townley

It’s not just the leader we have chosen for the next four years – although I’m personally delighted with the choice. It’s not even the fact that a black man has been entrusted with the highest office in the land – although I certainly share in the powerful emotions of pride, gratitude and amazement at how far we’ve come since the dark days of Selma and Little Rock that are being expressed everywhere in these first post-election days.

No, what moves me most about this election, and gives me most hope for the four years ahead, is the consciousness in which the choice was made. The election results were clear and above contention. We aren’t waiting for hanging chads or court decisions. The outcome is not being held hostage by voting irregularities in a handful of states. No one is accusing anyone of cheating, rigging or manipulating the results.

The democratic process worked as it was designed and intended to work. Two parties and their chosen leaders battled fiercely, voters listened and made individual decisions, and both sides accepted the collective outcome gracefully, aware that both parties – and all the diverse views those parties encompass – have important roles to play in the work that lies ahead. It is truly American democracy at its finest, and I think both sides, winners and losers alike, are recognizing and appreciating what a precious and powerful process it is.

There’s a sense of euphoria in the electoral aftermath that is intoxicating – and, like all intoxicants, dangerous. We can’t be blind to the challenges that lie ahead, nor to the divisiveness that such challenges may bring. But it’s really important, I think, that we appreciate the potential for change, growth and healing that this historic time offers us – individually and collectively.

We chose faith instead of fear – not faith in one man or one party, but faith in our own inherent potential. We still face staggering problems on many fronts. But we are choosing to take a fresh, affirmative approach.

The excitement lies, I think, not in what Barack Obama can do for us, or what the Democrats can do for us. The excitement lies in our re-discovery of what we ourselves can do together, and in our commitment to making that happen. Presidents are always expressions of our collective consciousness – they outpicture our own beliefs and fears. The best presidents recognize this, and allow it to be a spiritual current running beneath the pragmatic and political decisions that are the essence of the job.

I think President-elect Obama recognizes it. If we also recognize it – if we truly understand that it is our collective spiritual support that will empower him through each day he spends working on our behalf – then we are about to share four rich and satisfying years. Even our challenges will be exciting, because they will represent opportunities to heal, grow and move forward on the great Hero’s Journey that the United States of America has been exploring since it first came into expression as an idea in the minds of a small group of faith-filled idealists.

This is our great common purpose. It must be your personal purpose as well – no matter who received your vote last Tuesday. Let us affirm together that the choice we collectively made came from an energy of love, trust, respect and joy. And let us affirm that our positive energy will continue to support and empower President Obama and all the leaders we have chosen.

What a thrilling time to be alive in human form! What a gift to be living in a nation that has, from its very beginnings, embraced universal spiritual principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness! Like every Hero’s Journey, our national adventure has involved some painful challenges and ‘dark nights of the soul.’ There are certainly more to come. But we are awake now. We no longer see ourselves as victims of a dangerous world or a duplicitous government. We claim our own creative powers, and we move forward to greater possibilities than we have even imagined so far.