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Vote, vote, did you vote?

The result that I want to address and celebrate is that according to USA Today “Early on Election Day, more than 99 million people have already voted – about 70% of the total votes counted in the 2016 general election and elections experts predict historic rates of turnout this cycle. More than 257 million people in the U.S. are 18 or older, and nearly 240 million citizens are eligible to vote this year, according to Michael McDonald, a professor at the University of Florida who runs the U.S. Elections Project. Eligible voters include people living overseas but not noncitizens or people convicted of a felony, depending on state law. It’s possible that more than 160 million people may turn out this year, in total, McDonald said Sunday. That would mean an eligible voter turnout rate of 67%.”

I’m celebrating this historical turnout in voting.

Voting is our voice and we as a nation turned out to let our voice be heard. Now that election day is over, whether our candidate won or not it’s time for our nation, our community to start to work together for our betterment.

Psalm 133:1-2 (NKJV) “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments.”

If our country and more so our community is to go to the next level, we need to dwell and not just deal, dwelling together in unity. Unity will never be accomplished if all we are doing is dealing with each other.

It’s time for us to dwell together so that unity will begin and continue to flow down from generation to generation. We must embrace disagreeing without being disagreeable. To have conversations without becoming confrontational. The truth is that before our country can become united, our community needs to get there.

Have we embraced our community to the point that our children see the adults, community leaders working together, side by side to build a better future for them? Or do they see and hear destruction, division and divisiveness?

Community is communing unity. Let’s dwell together to make our community a great dwelling place.

 

Rev. Demetrius Moffett is Senior Pastor of Orange Church of God-Embassy of Grace, 1911 North 16th Street in Orange.