During the run-up to this presidential election, a friend sent me a quote to which I’ve been clinging.
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
This quote is attributed to Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch woman whose family hid Jewish people in their centuries-old house in Haarlem during the Nazi invasion and occupation of Holland. The book about her life, “The Hiding Place,” is an easy read, but a gem and an inspiration. Published in 1971, it still holds meaning for us today.
Did this “known God” spare Corrie from heartache for her courage? Although she survived, she spent time in a concentration camp and members of her family perished for their refusal to bow to the Nazi’s horrors. But her faith and trust endured.
What meaning does this hold for us today? It reminds us that God is calling each of us to do our small part. From the millions of Jewish people who perished in the Holocaust, the ten Booms were able to save but a few. But they did what they could. They did what God called them to do.
Pope Francis once said, “Ask Jesus what he wants from you and be brave.”
Rereading ten Boom’s book also reminds me that, as a country, we are losing our sense of history. How many people really understand the Holocaust and Hitler’s plan for a “final solution” by killing all the Jews of Europe? How many people know that many Americans in the pre-war years were enthralled by fascism and by our homegrown Hitler appeaser, the famous aviator Charles Lindburgh?
As I write this, our presidential election is a few days away. As you read this, the election may be over. If the election is a razor-thin margin, it may take days to certify the final outcome. Some fear there will be people who won’t accept the outcome peacefully.
All of this has Americans on edge. Anxiety levels are high. I’ve seen articles about how to prevent your children from absorbing the election anxiety of grown-ups. Some families are torn apart by political divisiveness. The endless noise and chatter of the internet and cable TV feeds our fears and anxiety.
The truth seems to be one victim of our politics. Everybody knows that politicians have always had a way of inflating their own accomplishments and exaggerating their opponents’ flaws.
But the lies of our present season go beyond this. Probably the most egregious is the lie that the 2020 election was somehow “stolen.” Countless court cases and myriad state and local election officials debunked this myth. In past times, this would have been enough to squash this falsehood. In today’s climate, it provoked a vicious attack on the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
A smaller lie, but a pernicious one, was that immigrants were routinely eating our pets. This crazy lie was quickly debunked by governors, mayors and journalists. But there seems to be a growing conviction that if you repeat a lie often enough, even when you know it’s not true, it gains traction and will serve your purpose.
Also, memes and rumors spread on the Internet by partisans of both sides can be investigated and refuted, but not before millions of people have read and spread them. It’s a frightening new world.
But that’s probably what Corrie ten Boom thought, too.
The future is always unknown. Vote, and then turn off the noise and find the God we seek to know in silence. Ask God what you can do to bring truth, peace and unity into our national discourse. And be brave.
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