Tom Adams
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Well, so much for being a poll denier. I made a decision to not believe the polls about the election and trust that good would triumph. While it turns out I was quite wrong, I am grateful to Big Spirit for that gift. While it didn’t protect me from worry, it did help me stay hopeful as I did what I could to support candidates I believed in.
Thanks for voting and considering my posts about different ways to make sure every possible vote for good and justice gets cast. Today’s post for Election Day 2024 explores what’s next.
Our youngest son loved to play soccer from a very early age. One year, the annual end-of-season potluck dinner featured a sports reporter from a local TV station. Besides congratulating and encouraging the kids, he left them with a message I have never forgotten. He very dramatically talked about Winston Churchill who, when the world was under attack from an evil leader with a demonic set of beliefs, repeated over and over: “Never, never, never, never, never give up.”
While early voting is well underway in some places, there is still time to make a difference in the 2024 election. Faith teaches us that Big Spirit will work all this craziness out. Action is faith’s beloved sister and seems to go with faith.
Our local community newspaper, the Greenbelt News Review, had a fictional story last week about the 2024 elections When Choosing the Lesser of Two Evils Makes Sense. The writer describes the dilemma of the person who doesn’t like either candidate. After some reflection, the person decided the best way t was to not vote at all.
This week’s post is about how a small enterprise built on hope and shared commitments can endure and continue to do good. I recently relearned this lesson by attending the 50th anniversary of Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore (NHS), an organization where I had the privilege of serving as its first executive director fifty years ago.
I have been in recovery quite literally my entire adult life. The early days were very difficult. I was 21 years old attempting to stay in recovery and avoid all alcohol and other drug use while my peer group was in full experimentation mode. As I developed what is called recovery capital, recovery became easier. Yet, it is important for me to note here for readers that recovery is something I need to pay attention to. I take care of myself to stay in recovery. I am a few weeks shy of 38 years in recovery, I have developed a lot of recovery capital. Yet sustaining recovery still takes effort.
A couple of months ago, I listened online to a talk by professor Kevin Carnahan about Christian Realism. It’s a perspective I hadn’t encountered before, at least not in these terms. I thought I would share some of my thoughts about it here in case you might find the connections I’m making helpful.
I’ve been writing recently about how faith and values lead me to certain actions as a voting citizen of the US. This post shares some lessons and observations on this topic and raises some questions to consider. The September 10 Presidential debate made real one more time the difference between an anti-immigrant, fear-based message, and a message of hope and inclusion. There is a lot at stake this election.
We are all walkers. Sometime during our first year on this earth, we took our first steps. Now I doubt that anyone of us remembers those first tentative steps on our own two feet. But I bet our parents remembered them and took pride in watching us teeter along. It’s what we did when we witnessed our children’s first steps. Walking defines us as a species. We are the species that stands up and walks.
Tom Adams writes and speaks on topics vital to the intersection of our personal lives with our community and global lives. He has for decades been engaged in and written about nonprofit leadership and transitions, spirituality and spiritual growth, how we each contribute to a more just and equitable world and recovery from addictions and the Twelve Step recovery movement.