Photo by Element5 Digital, pexels.com
In a little over two weeks, we go to the polls. I don’t think I have ever missed the opportunity to vote. An early pastor of Saint Matthew, Msgr. James Cecka (my history teacher), instilled in his students the priority of voting, “even if the only contest is for dog catcher.”
As an elementary school child, dad took me with him into the voting booth on Election Day and showed me the names on the slate and the levels to pull to cast your vote. This was a regular outing on the first Tuesday of November.
My ability to get around is somewhat compromised by cancer and the treatments I am taking. A number of people have suggested that I do “early voting” or “vote by mail.” I have declined those invitations.
You see, I need to walk into the polling place and stand in line on Election Day. I need to stand with my neighbors—old and young—those whose names I know and those whom I have never met. Voting in person on Election Day, along with neighbors, meeting and visiting while we wait—this is a kind of “civic sacrament” of what it is to be a citizen. Voting is a community experience; citizenship is a community experience.
Maybe all we have in common is that we are all here to vote and in so doing taking responsibility for choosing those who will lead us in fostering the common good of all.
When you go to vote, remember, it is not a chore to be done. Stand tall, rub elbows with your neighbors, visit with each other and know that you are publicly demonstrating your right and responsibility of citizenship—be proud and grateful.
Father Steve Adrian
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