Day 240: Beware ‘Election Stress Disorder’

 

DAY 240

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Thirty-five   Monday 9 November 2020

Beware ‘Election Stress Disorder’

“From the droves of people voting by mail to the widespread protests for racial justice to the pandemic and worries about the electoral process itself, the 2020 election cycle provides a recipe for a lot of angst…. With the pandemic keeping many families apart, the usual rallying points – like shared love of a sports team – have frayed. One of the very few things that remains, and not only remains but is heightened, is our political standing. People are way more polarized even within their families and essential groups than they ever have been before.” - From a recent newspaper article by the same name.

There is a constellation of factors today pressing into our individual existence unlike anything any of us have ever known. We neither know how to discern or decipher it, nor how to respond to it in ways that protect who we are from being wounded. It’s not easy.

Because these columns are written and posted a week ahead, I take this first opportunity to ask you how election day went for you – what was the stress level? I have never seen Americans so polarized by rhetoric that is only ratcheting up, and I have found that at times it actually affects me physically. So, what did I do election day? First, I spent time with the Lord in His eternal trustworthy Word and in prayer. Then I spent an hour and a half just sitting at a piano playing classical music, the place where I would hide for years growing up – seemed like a good place still even at my age. Then I went home and wrote these columns for this week after having put Handel’s Messiah on my computer. I accompanied our college choir on the organ when they sang it one Christmas, and it has remained embedded in me to this day – a place of refuge.   

While election-related stress will hopefully pass, other stressors remain, chief among them the invisible viral enemy that still stalks the world. So if you do not already have them, think about places of refuge about which you can be intentional, and don’t wait to go there when the stress is ‘too much’ – make them part of your everyday routine and they will serve you well.

Reflective question: Where do you ‘go’ for refuge in times of stress - election or otherwise?

Reflective Scripture: Psalm 46:1 – “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Reflective hymn:

“God, Our Help and Constant Refuge – Psalm 46” – Fred Anderson (1941-    )

(A Presbyterian Church USA pastor for many years, Fred and I were classmates in seminary).

God, our help and constant refuge, ever present in our need!

Though the earth be ever changing, though it fall into the sea,

Rock secure, ever sure, through all tumult you endure.