This foggy morning, I found the piece I wrote the eve of election 2020. And, like most former laments that I have written, I silently laughed at my dramatic self. And it is funny that on election eve of 2020 I was awaiting my covid results- and that on election eve 2024 I am 3 days clear of an 8-day bout of Laos cave bats running through every bodily orifice. Until last Monday I was a proud “Novid.” Look how far we have come! In 2020 I had to wait for the results of my free covid test, and here we are in progressive 2024…. after paying $32.99 I knew my results in 15 minutes.
If you are one of those folks who ordered your free test kits from the mighty internet then I wish you were on my ballot tomorrow! Being ahead of the game should easily qualify you for POTUS these days!
It is only in the last few weeks that in my tiny mind, I have thought how ironic it is that America brought in trump along with the first pandemic in 106 years. Carl Jung referred to these events as synchronicity: a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of chance is involved. What is the chance that political chaos joins pandemic chaos? I don’t know, but perhaps had I tossed down an ivermectin swirled with a trump “injection cleaning” those little Laos cave bats would have evaporated right inside me. But, no matter, it is time to move on….
I believe I have read as much as I need to read. I am intellectually engaged. I have gone as far as to change the words of very traditional prayers and have prayed many times a day for miracles, a blue surge, and peace regardless of the outcome. I am spiritually engaged. I talk with people, and I listen to people. I am connected.
And I have pledged that tomorrow night will not punch me in the gut. This time I am not standing in front of a far too large tv while MSNBC grimgribbers me to sad tears. In fact, I will watch no news. Because the truth is, very little is news anymore. Gibberish fodder turned into memes. Hyperbole that wears out even the most curious brain.
Tomorrow I am going to vote, work a bit and ride. Praise God, [or WWII] that darkness settles earlier now and I can go to bed as soon as my weary brain recognizes tomorrow happens with or without my worries, despair, or jubilation. And we know that as the bullshitters campaign ends, his next circus act begins. Win or lose,we know for certain this trump virus will not go away. As I sat in the lock down of Covid and hoped to vote him out in 2020, I now am recovering from Covid as I hope to keep him out in 2024. The fact that trump and covid are connected in my tiny life is synchronicity. trump is a virus America can’t seem to get rid of. He makes me sick.
There is no witty metaphor or brilliant babbler that will make my night any better. I like the Psalms when life is doing its’ hard stuff. I read Psalm 43 last week and thought it would be a good election week prayer. I especially like the work from Andy Patton. If you need to shut down the jabber and get grounded give him a read at Substack, THE DARKLING PSALTER. He does a wonderful job revisiting the Psalms and reminding us that “there is nothing new under the sun.” We have always struggled with dark leaders, may the Light “scatter into the dimness tomorrow.”
Psalm 43
Scatter light into the dimness.
Shout out your truth, and I will follow,
Groping through the darkling
Until you bring me to your hillside city.
I will haul myself up to the altar of God
With the joy of one who has finally found home.
On that day, I will sing again.
But today, I am here
Standing watch over my
fitful, restless, slipshod soul.
From The Darkling Psalter by Andy Patton
I read this again just to find the psalm you reference. Peace