Voting is Holy: A Reflection and a Prayer

A Reflection:

Life’s paradox and promise:

continuity across time,

minute modifications day by day,

as living things reinvent themselves

in a flow

that shifts caterpillars into butterflies

tadpoles into leaping frogs. …

… and monarchies into democracies.

We come together to reinvent ourselves

through debate, deliberation,

a welter of personalities and issues,

of interests and of values.

The promise of elections is precious yet fragile:

The capacity to shape our future

to redefine ourselves and expand our capacity

as a people,

this is the miracle of the vote.

But only if we show up.

Only if we rise on the shoulders

of the suffragettes who marched for this right,

of African Americans who were beaten and burned,

of immigrants who lined up for hours to leave their mark.

We owe it to those who came before us,

and to our children’s children.

Casting a vote is a sacred deed:

an expression of faith in tomorrow,

in our neighbors’ humanity,

God’s image in us all.

A Prayer Before Voting:  

Holy One of Blessing, grant us the perspective to cast our ballots wisely.

• Expand our vision to meet the needs of all, rather than to shore up our own self interest.
• Grant us wisdom to steward the planet, the land, and life, rather than to perpetuate the short-term plunder that recklessly endangers humanity and Creation.
• Fortify your teaching that all people reflect the Divine image, and that we are commanded to maintain one law for ourselves and for each other.

May this vote implement democracy’s invitation to equality under law, with opportunity for all to thrive. May our vote advance Your vision of beloved community, flowing with your gifts of justice, compassion, and peace. May it be Your will, and let us say, Amen.

Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson (www.bradartson.com) holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean’s Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles. A member of the Philosophy Department, he is particularly interested in theology, ethics, and the integration of science and religion. He is also dean of the Zacharias Frankel College in Potsdam, Germany, ordaining Conservative rabbis for Europe.