The winner of this election was not Barack Obama; the winner, by a landslide, was the God of Love who defeated his arch-rival, the God of Fear. Barack Obama was His messenger, a man who represents our highest, Holiest Selves. He is a man of integrity, a man who has integrated polarities: he is black and white; pragmatic and visionary; courageous and humble; a man of faith and intellect. For a brief, ecstatic moment, on November 4, we wept tears of joy as our differences and division dissolved in our embrace of this integrated man. For a brief, ecstatic moment we were whole; we were one.
Unfortunately, peak ecstatic moments are over far too soon and we return to the ashes of our divided selves, struggling to integrate fear and love by acting in loving ways no matter what we feel.
The God of Fear is a God of Polarization, not Integration. Those who worship the God of Fear are either/or, not both/and thinkers: science or religion; intellect or faith; good or evil. They polarize in order to control the fear of their own impulses and appetites. By projecting their disowned desires onto those who differ from them they are assured of their own righteousness and temporarily relieved of inner conflict. They have reduced morality to the issues of abortion, homosexuality and creationism and claimed the God of Fear as the One and Only God.
The God of Love commands us to wrestle daily with our broken-ness, our "human heart at war with itself," as Faulkner described. To be human is to be imperfect, a mix of holy and profane, animal and angel, mortal and immortal. We serve the will of the God of Love every time we "feed" our highest selves by acting in loving ways despite our fears, urges and judgments. The path to an integrated self is right action... we are commanded to act ourselves into right thinking and feeling.
Barack Obama has demonstrated that he walks his talk and puts principles above personalities in the way he has conducted his campaign. He is known as "No Drama Obama" and even his enemies have acknowledged the disciplined teamwork of his campaign, which has been remarkably free of backbiting and in-fighting. Anyone who has ever been on a committee or been a boss understands the challenge of managing people's differences of opinion and hurt feelings in order to unite in pursuit of a common goal. This is a remarkable accomplishment.
If Barack Obama's vision of hope and unity is to take root, each one of us must struggle to integrate ourselves by maintaining those thoughts, attitudes and actions that connect us to ourselves, others and the God of Love. We have to sweep our souls clean of feelings of unworthiness and self-righteousness and rid our spirits of the cobwebs of acedia. We have to take responsibility for our actions, make amends when we falter, and maintain our bodies, minds and relationships in the service of the God of Love.