10/20/2026
Hello, friends.
I keep checking the numbers. I put my phone down, turn my attention to something else, and then find myself looking again to see whether another batch of votes has been counted. I know refreshing the page won’t make the counting go any faster. Apparently, knowing that isn’t enough to stop me.
When I first arrived at seminary in Atlantic Canada, having grown up in Calgary, I encountered a pace I wasn’t used to. People stopped and had conversations at checkouts. At Tim Hortons, I would stand several people back and watch each successive customer have a prolonged conversation while I waited to order my coffee. Those first days of my theological education brought a fairly immediate discovery about myself: I do not do well with waiting.
I’m reminded of that impatience today.
Each time I reach for my phone, I recognize the question drawing me back: What does this mean? I want to understand what these results will mean for the people I care about. I am trying to imagine the consequences in lives very different from my own. I find myself looking for something about our future together in every change to the totals, wondering what will be asked of us in the days ahead.
Understanding that will take time. These proposals reach into people’s lives, and the uncertainty about what follows is already having an effect. When your access to health care has been debated publicly, you may be wondering what will happen the next time someone in your family becomes ill. Hearing your neighbours discuss who should qualify for support can leave you questioning whether they would want help to be there for you.
The question underneath the numbers becomes deeply personal: Am I safe here? Does my family belong?
To continue reading, visit us athttps://reddeerlakeuc.com/s/Post-Election.pdf
