{"id":4578,"date":"2016-10-26T14:51:44","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T21:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/?p=4578"},"modified":"2016-10-26T18:51:56","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T01:51:56","slug":"election-fatigue-10-spiritual-practices-for-toxic-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/2016\/10\/election-fatigue-10-spiritual-practices-for-toxic-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Election Fatigue: 10 Spiritual Practices for Toxic Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I want to write about election fatigue. But I\u2019m too tired.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been dragging, feeling run-down and drained. This should not be. I haven\u2019t been sick. It\u2019s my favorite time of year. Church is good, kids are good. It\u2019s almost Halloween and last week was my birthday. I just got a FitBit and have met my step goals every day since I put the dang thing on. I\u2019ve been sleeping ok. I eat green vegetables. What more does this body want from me?<\/p>\n

My first impulse would be to blame last week\u2019s birthday\u2013which put me perilously close to 40\u2013for this recent slump. We get older, our bodies can\u2019t do what they once did, our energy wanes, blah blah blah. But I reject that reality as inevitable, AND I\u2019m pretty sure it doesn\u2019t creep up all at once like this. No, for my uncharacteristic case of the blahs\u2013which feel a little deeper than just \u2018blah\u2019\u2013I cannot blame the calendar. I can\u2019t blame my children or the perpetual pile of dirty dishes in the sink. This is not an age issue, nor is it a scheduling problem.\u00a0What I do think is affecting me bigly\u2013and probably affecting you as well\u2013is this election cycle.<\/p>\n

It is toxic. It is literally making us sick<\/a> and tired and, some days, achy all over. It\u2019s like having the flu and PMS and, I don\u2019t know, maybe Lyme disease, all at the same time. On top of\u00a0a bad hangover. Add to all that, the feeling that someone has been swapping out your coffee with DECAF for a week, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been feeling like. It ain\u2019t pretty. I look like hell, my thoughts are scattered, and I\u2019m not super fun to be around. Ask my family.<\/p>\n

I know that other people are feeling this way too, because they tell me so. Meanwhile, my newsfeed is filled with constant reminders, often in meme-form, that \u2018we shouldn\u2019t be this worried about politics!\u201d because \u201cGod is in control!\u201d and \u201ccan\u2019t we all just get along?\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to just get along. I\u2019d love to \u201cnot worry about it.\u201d But\u00a0as much as I believe in the transformative power and presence of God in the world, I also have a belief in this terrifying thing called free will\u2026 And the cycles of history in which people sometimes vote against their own interests and set destructive cycles in place, from which it will take generations to recover. While God loves us, cares for us, walks alongside us and continues to work through even the darkest seasons of the human story, that does not always mean intervention. That does not always mean safety or prosperity or justice, in its tangible forms.<\/p>\n

The mantra of \u201cit\u2019s just politics\u201d is profoundly unhelpful to me. I recognize that many people of faith have embraced this answer as a means of coping with the ugliness, and I do not begrudge them the comfort they find in that worldview. However, it is not a comfort available to me. Because it is not \u201cjust politics\u201d this time. It is not a matter of disagreement, or a brief season of discord before we settle back into some sense of \u2018normal\u2019 on November 9. (Or November 29, depending on who you ask).<\/p>\n

This year, it is so much more than that. On much deeper levels, this election cycle has revealed some dark truths about the world we live in\u2013and, more to the point, the people who live in it with us\u2013and those realities are not going to quietly recede when this is over. The discourse on the public stage has revealed ongoing and deeply rooted issues of misogyny, racism, Islamaphobia, and shaming of the poor\u2013just to name a few\u2013that have made many of us discouraged about the overall state of the soul of humanity.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most disturbing\u00a0of all, maybe we\u2019ve seen people that we love land on troubling sides of these complex issues. This is not just\u00a0a rough season of partisan politics\u2013 this has been a reckoning of seismic proportions. It\u2019s the calling-out of long held divisions within our churches, families and communities; divisions that, regardless of the outcome of this election, cannot be ignored any more. No matter what happens, we have a lot of work to do if we are going to continue to live together in civilized society.<\/p>\n

And we\u2019re tired just thinking about it.<\/p>\n

What this fatigue has taught me\u2013this fatigue that, some days, feels like all-out spiritual warfare\u2013is that\u00a0the usual principles of self-care do not apply here. More sleep, a long walk\u00a0and a nice kale salad are not going to cure what ails you when it\u2019s a toxic culture that\u2019s got you down. So how do we care for ourselves, in both body and spirit? How do we nurture relationships that are feeling the strain of systemic issues far bigger than any of us?<\/p>\n

Meditation, via Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If I knew the answer, maybe I wouldn\u2019t feel so tired and run-down, like I need a shot of B-12 and (another) giant espresso drink. What I do know is that ignoring the severity of these pervading cultural issues, or explaining them away in broad theological terms, serves no one. So I\u2019m going to do my best to care for myself, and my people, in way that means we can come out of this whole and ready to rebuild on the other side. Here are my best suggestions. Not instead of but\u00a0in addition to\u00a0<\/em>the usual drill\u2013sleep, eat, movement, repeat. Maybe have some bourbon, if that\u2019s your thing. And then, try this:<\/p>\n

1. \nLimit media consumption.\u00a0<\/strong>The American Psychological Association says, not only is election stress real\u2013more than half of American adults are suffering from it right now. (Go figure!) Read their other suggestions<\/a>, but stepping away from the talking heads is the most productive approach. Seems like common sense, but it\u2019s still hard to do some days, when our lives are saturated with technology.<\/li>\nRead poetry or listen to music.\u00a0<\/strong>Art is healing. And it uses a different part of the brain than the analytical\/problem-solving part with which we process politics. As it happens, that same part of the brain is what tends to send us into fight-or-flight mode when we get angry so\u2026 give that particular animal a rest, and feed the one that craves beauty and creativity.<\/li>\nBe generous.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>With your actual money. I like my friend Katherine\u2019s suggestion on\u00a0The Art of Simple<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>to \u201cgive generously\u00a0to organizations doing the kind of work that nudges the world toward how you think things should be.\u201d Remember that voting is not the only tool you have to effect change.<\/li>\nGet outside.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Exercise does your body and spirit good, but don\u2019t just hop on a treadmill. Being in the actual outside world\u2013with trees and birds and sunshine\u2013will make you breathe easier.<\/li>\nBe present.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Spend time with your people. The ones you live with, the ones you live near, maybe the ones you barely know. Sit at a table together. Maybe don\u2019t talk about politics, but use the time and space to remember that we have in more in common with most of our fellow humans than Fox News and MSNBC would have us believe. Nurturing our relationships is the best way to provide a foundation for the work we\u2019ll need to do post-election day.<\/li>\nPray.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Not in a \u201cdear God, please save us\u201d kind of way; but in a \u201ctoday I will root myself in the Spirit and remember that I\u2019m a beloved child of God, and so is my neighbor\u201d kind of way. Maybe read a few Psalms while you\u2019re at it.<\/li>\nWorship.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Get thyself to church. Be a part of diverse community. Sing the songs, break the bread, hold the styrofoam coffee cup of salvation. Not only is the ritual comforting, but the act of gathering for a common purpose has soul-shaping AND earth-shaping potential. And don\u2019t tell me you don\u2019t have time to go to church, because I know you spend AT LEAST an hour a week on social media and watching cable news.<\/li>\nTravel.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Yes, a road trip is my answer to everything.\u00a0This is not just escapism. A change of scenery can change your perspective on many things, not to mention\u00a0give you a burst of energy inspired by a new context.<\/li>\nDon\u2019t engage negativity.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>On the one hand, shying away from tough issues will not help us in the long run. At the same time, engaging\u00a0someone\u00a0who is in an openly hostile place will get you nowhere. Read an interaction for its life potential, and if there is none, make like Elsa and let it go.<\/li>\nDo something for someone else.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>A simple act of service will take some of that energy racing around your own brain and turn it\u00a0outward.\u00a0<\/em>And maybe, who knows, change something for good.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n*
   ** Repeat steps 1 thru 10 as needed until symptoms subside. Be well out there, friends.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
   ** *I want to write about election fatigue. But I\u2019m too tired. I\u2019ve been dragging, feeling run-down and drained. This should not be. I haven\u2019t been sick. It\u2019s my favorite time of year. Church is good, kids are good. It\u2019s almost Halloween and last week was my birthday. 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