Although fear is a powerful motivation, it is completely contrary to the way of Jesus. In I John 4:18 the Bible makes it clear that fear is the opposite of the core characteristic of Christianity which is love: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.
So what does it look like to have a vision for voting based on love rather than fear? This week I received an email that included a video of the familiar song “America the Beautiful.” This version includes three new verses written by Jesse Polidofsky who is part of The Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. He describes the three new verses with the following words, “Here is one humble-yet-fierce artistic offering for our individual and collective healing.” Here are the words of those verses followed by a video of the whole song:
“O beautiful thy immigrants
Who hail from every land
Their hope and heart and diligence
Like gifts from God’s own hand
America! America!
Thy grace shall yet remain
To greet the poor who reach thy shore
With open arms again
O beautiful O Mother Earth
All nestle at your breast
Just as we sing with love and pride
So all nations are blessed
America! America!
Alone cannot abide
God give thee pause to mend thy flaws
With Truth thy only guide
O beautiful thy working folk
Built cities, tilled thy soil
Proud Africans in bloody chains
The wealth built from their toil
America! America!
God shed much grace on thee
So spread the love sent from above
From sea to shining sea
Ring sisterhood! Ring brotherhood!
From sea to shining sea“
Jesse Palidofsky and John Morris
Copyright 2020
When I read the words and saw the video, it gave me a vision for voting based on love – a love grounded in both gratitude for our country and commitment to continue following God’s call to healing and wholeness for our nation and the world.
