As a doctoral student, I know that being political comes with the responsibility of doing what I do best – research. I would not hand in a paper without proper research, so I should take that same care when making a political decision. As a student, I listen with humility because I do not have all the answers. It brings me back to the end of Micah 6:8, “…walk humbly with your God.”
Being political is not about being the one with the one right answer. It’s about seeing that there is a bigger picture that includes the stories of other people: people who don’t look like me, people who don’t think like me, people whose livelihoods require something different of them than mine does of me. I do not have the experience to answer all my political questions. I surround myself with people and opinions that help me see past my own reflection to another story because being political is not about me. Being political is about working together to build a better world for all the children of God, setting aside differences to recognize Christ in each one of us and taking action to protect one another.
This message is excerpted from “Seeing the bigger picture” by Elyssa J. Salinas-Lazarski from the October 25, 2023, blog of the Women of the ELCA.
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