As we pause this Presidents’ Day to reflect on the legacy and weight of national leadership, we are reminded that the work of tending to our shared civic and moral life belongs not only to those in office, but to all of us. We have gathered a collection of essays that invite us to move past partisan thinking, embrace difference with dignity, speak to our children about politics with courage and charity, and remember that simple niceness falls short of real peacemaking. In this sensitive political moment, we hope these essays offer new ways to lead in our own circles with curiosity, humility, and hope.
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Being Nice Is Not Enough
To Jesus, peacemaking was the work of reconciliation in the world, a reconciliation only possible through both love and truth.
The Art of Healthy Conflict
Healthy conflict in a political setting doesn’t always result in tangible progress, and there will often still be winners and losers. That’s the nature of a democracy. But active peacemakers can create the conditions most likely to produce progress.
A Letter to My Child Regarding Politics
There are no guarantees in politics. People sometimes listen and sometimes they don't. Sometimes they agree and sometimes they don't. Sometimes you create rules and laws that help, and sometimes they hurt. Sometimes people will support you, and sometimes they’ll hate you.
Civic Love
I believe our purpose isn’t to earn God’s love, but to learn to love like God: unconditionally, without fear, and without the need to win. Love is not merely a private virtue. It is a public necessity. It is the only force strong enough to hold diverse communities together. This kind of love can transform not only families and congregations, but also laws and legislatures.
Doing Away With Political -Ites
Political parties are not stable entities. They do not represent a fixed set of principles. They are, at best, a muddled attempt by imperfect humans working in concert with other imperfect humans, within the context bequeathed to them by history, and in response to forces over which they have no control, to try to determine what will make the world a little better in a given year, in a given place, in a given set of circumstances.