Thread by @johnpavlovitz

I never wrote about politics or mentioned a politician or party by name, until Donald Trump began his 2016 campaign. It was alarming to witness, and I believed it was a moment of historic urgency that as a Christian pastor I could not sit out, one that required specificity.

I remember the first time I wrote a piece mentioning him, a family member said, "You better be careful, you'll alienate half your potential audience."

I replied, "I'm not writing to keep an audience, I'm declaring who I am and what matters to me. I'll live with the results."

With each passing week, I've been more certain I was right to speak up, because it allowed me to connect with like-hearted people all over the world and to realize how medicinal community is, how interdependent we all are.

As we face the end of this presidency, but not the hatred and bigotry he has revealed, I'm grateful for the 81 million+ here, and those all over the world who will not allow this sickness to define us.

Even if we don't flip the Senate, we will have done something critical: we will have stopped a malevolent madman from getting four more years to brutalize millions of people—and elected two people of decency, empathy, and integrity. That is worth acknowledging and celebrating.

My heart is with the good people of Georgia, and whatever the outcome, I know we will all begin the difficult work to course correct this nation and become the America we could be but have not yet been.

Thank you to all the damn-givers out there. You matter.