[ In a world that seems increasingly chaotic and broken, many of us feel helpless and afraid. We may question what we can do to make a difference. To build collective courage, in this space we will share examples of how individual members of GEC are practicing the way of Jesus, in private action or in the public arena. How might you find inspiration and hope in the small steps others are taking? ]

As we approach the midterm elections you may have heard some discussion around vote tampering and voting interference. Massive in-person voter turn out is one way to mitigate the threat. Simon Rosenberg of the Hopium Chronicles explains why.

According to him, voting early will get you off the Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rolls. This gives a campaign the opportunity to more quickly determine who they don’t need to contact and it allows them more time to focus on people who haven’t voted yet. If you’re off the rolls you should stop getting calls and door knocks and the campaign can focus on reaching lower propensity voters. This is important, especially in a midterm election, as there are more episodic voters who aren’t as sure they are going to vote compared to a presidential year. This helps the GOTV folks to encourage and increase overall voter turnout.

Early in-person voting also gives lower propensity voters an chance to see growing momentum for the election potentially increasing the likelihood that they will actually vote.

So, if you’re looking for an easy way to bring your faith and values into the public arena and help increase turnout, get out and vote early and in-person. (Of course, that may not be an option for everyone so the most important thing is to vote no matter how you do it.)

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Tags: Voting, Faith in action

Friends,  On Sunday, I recapped this scene from Derry Girls as a way into the conflict at the heart of the reading from Genesis. In that story, two brothers, Jacob and Esau, begin a foundational conflict that stretches into centuries of violence. But our God is not a binary God; Jesus disrupted binaries in his teaching, and throughout Scripture God keeps on upsetting dualities with God’s Spirit, with God’s love, with God’s invitation to find a third way.  You can listen to the sermon here.  On Sunday, we also blessed Sheila Foster in gratitude for her long years of ministry with us, and sent her into her next chapter with the gift of a quilt and a sung blessing from ECMN camps. It was a holy, hard day. Thank you to everyone who came, shared memories, and otherwise lent their hearts and energy to mark this transition.

With Love,
Susan+

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Tags: Rev Susan, Duality