It bends toward justice

Irregular days call for irregular newsletters.

Today is Election Day. I am anxious and hopeful. The stakes at play are extraordinary.

Last night, following a few hours of spiraling out of the confidence I'd built up over the last two or so weeks and landing in a dour headspace, I found myself searching for affirmation. In that moment, sitting down to explore my thoughts in one of my journals, I tried to remember. I remembered my Grandma Arlene, who died in those chaotic early weeks of Covid. I remembered my Grandma Terry, who has voted in the majority of elections that have allowed women to vote, including this one. I thought of the immigrants who made my life, those long past and those still here. I thought of my fiancee, who empowers and incites me to action.

And I thought of Dr. King's words: "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I worry, sometimes, that these words can actually make me, make us complacent. That they imply a power beyond us, something bigger than we can comprehend, that moves us all toward what is right. But I believe that the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice because we bend it. We inherit the task of bending it from those who have before. We bend it knowing that when we pass the task along there will still be justice to arc toward. The fight is never over.

No matter what happens today, that arc will still need bending.

I hold that in my heart today. I hope you will join me.