This morning seems like a good time to revisit a previous post on having a broken heart. In it I pointed out two generalized responses to having a broken heart: lashing out in fear and anger, or turning inward and seeking improvement.

Fifteen years ago, we had our collective hearts broken as we watched two planes slam into the Twin Towers of New York City, a third into the Pentagon, and a fourth into a Pennsylvania field. One of the more interesting pieces of commentary I’ve read about it comes from the book The Harbinger. A central point the book makes is that America’s reaction to the event followed the biblically-condemned pattern of indignation, condemnation, and resolve to “build greater than before!”

As I look back on the events of 9-11, I wonder how things might have been different if, instead of waging war on the Middle East, we had instead offered an olive branch. What if we had instead made the crater in Manhattan a permanent memorial to our folly of meddling in the affairs of other nations, and had taken the attacks as a wake-up call to sue for peace, and not war? How might our world be different today?

This morning I feel like we’re having another one of these wake-up calls. For years, urban America has systematically exploited the rural areas of the nation (warning: salty language). We have ignored them and trampled on them and ridiculed them and vilified them, and then when they try to complain, we laugh at them and say “well aren’t you a cute racist” and completely ignore the truth of their words. And because of this (and a whole bunch of other things, too) we have elected Donald Trump as the next president.

We have an opportunity here. Hearts all over the nation have been broken as we fear the consequences of the election. We fear the marginalization of our non-white brothers and sisters. We fear the repercussions on LGBTQ rights. We fear the repercussions on women’s rights. But we also need to acknowledge the ones whose hearts were already broken. They also need our help. We cannot ignore them.

I hope that we learn from our past and do not lash out in anger and fear and othering. Those are the things that brought us to this place. We need to do and be better.