And the day of choosing shall come, and the people shall speak.
They shall call out their choice for the future of their nation.
I've got to do this right, I thought. I read the directions, then read them again. I worked slowly, making my choices one by one. My husband and I carefully witnessed each other's ballots, and we drove to our town clerk's house to hand them in. We had voted.
I take voting seriously, as most of us do. When I vote, I feel proud, and grateful, too, to be part of that vital ritual that carries my country forward. But this time it felt so different. It felt desperate.
I watched the news that night, shaking my head. Another thousand Americans dead from the virus. Crowds of people shouting at each other. Another senseless killing. My government paralyzed by division. And, of course, yet one more cascade of spiteful tweets from the president, tearing my country apart. What is happening to us? I thought. It feels like we're groping in the dark, and there's no one to guide us!
That night, as I lay staring at the ceiling, I thought, at least I voted. I made my voice heard.
It's more than filling in ovals, I said to myself. It's telling my country: this is what we can be. This is the future I want my leaders to work for, for all of us. This is my dream for America.
I drifted off to sleep, holding that dream in my mind.
And then as I slept a new dream took shape. I dreamed that I was standing in a crowd, with millions of people all around me: rich and poor, gay and straight, young and old, all races and every religion as far as the eye could see. I looked around and was filled with awe: I saw such strength and creativity, beauty and diversity, and I knew these people, all of them, were my neighbors: my country.
We were walking down a long, long road, toiling along in the fading light. Behind us was our history, some of it glorious, some of it shameful, but ours to own and learn from. Ahead of us, though, the way was dark and fearful. As we walked, I heard weeping, and arguing, and groans of despair. But still we trudged forward, climbing a long hill. And then we stopped.
The road split, right there, into two. We had to choose.
Then, there in the darkness, the people began to speak.
A woman's voice rang out, and she pointed down one road. Then another, and another, louder and louder, until they become a giant roar, undeniable, too strong to be denied or delayed or hidden away, calling the way we should go.
Then the dream shifted, and I was watching the votes being counted, watching the numbers, state by state, as millions upon millions of voices spoke out through the ballot box. The thunder of our voices filled the land, growing into a storm so mighty it shook our nation to its very foundations.
And that mighty wind bore down upon the halls of power. The doors burst, and the windows blew inwards, and the fresh wind filled the rooms, scattering the plans of the corrupt and greedy, rebuking the weak and waking the lost to their duty once again.
The people shouted: NO MORE!
No more chaos, no more spite, no more greed!
No more filling your pockets from the coffers of the people!
No more turning your backs upon our suffering!
No more winking at hatred!
No more locking up children and tearing families apart!
The people spoke, saying, This is not the America we love.
We want a country we can be proud of again,
where every person has a fair chance,
an equal voice, a country built on justice, not greed.
We want to be neighbors again, be one country again,
to return to decency and respect.
We want to heal and stand together once more!
Then I was back at that fork in the road, and as we began to take the new road, we paused and looked back. There stood the rest of our country. Some of them began to call for revenge, to take the other road without us. But many just stood there, uncertain.
Then the next miracle happened. In that moment, first one, then another, began to walk toward us, and we came back to greet them. No winners. No losers. Just starting a new road, together. We'll work it out, I heard someone say.
I turned in my sleep, and in my dream I saw the man who brought us to the brink walk out the door one last time, with his wife by his side, and climb into the waiting limousine and leave. And all the others, too, stole away, and new leaders stood before this nation and made their solemn vows, and a new era began.
All my hopes and dreams for my country were in that folded ballot as I handed it in. My heartbreak and my yearning were held in those careful marks:
For leaders we can trust,
For the mending of our shattered nation.
For steady leadership through the pandemic.
And - oh, how I long for this! For the day we step forward and proudly join the nations of the world again.
We can be a new America, shining brighter than ever before.
May that dream come to pass, and soon.
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