Notes from my Knapsack 11-14/21-24

Notes from my Knapsack 11-14/21-24
Jeff Gill

In the light of Election Day
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Election morning the village turnout, at least in terms of "as the door opens" at 6:30 am, was impressive. Possibly the most I've ever seen for the dawn patrol here in Granville.

There was a man in his running outfit, shorts & sneakers; I saw women & men dressed for business or court or something official this morning, in ties or dresses and dark fabrics. I saw neighbors and fellow churchgoers and former clients; there were fellow Kiwanians across the table checking in voters & college students plus professors from up the hill down here in the church basement. There were a few in patriotic gear, but of course nothing overtly partisan. I saw people I've known for over two decades here in the village, folks I've more recently met whose names I scrambled mentally to recall, and a fair number of complete strangers.

It was Election Day in the United States of America. The genius of our founders is encapsulated in the propositions that we are all created equal, and therefore our votes count equally. All of us, at least those who make the effort both to get registered, and to cast their vote.

For democracy to function, it requires a critical mass of voters to participate, and register the outcomes as "the consent of the governed." If we only had a handful of us voting, the system would flounder if there's not enough of us participating to sustain the hard work of governance, which boils down to the levying of taxes and the expenditure of public funds. Those two issues are contentious enough, but we make it work because of the deposit of good faith made by enough of us having voted; it works enough to leave the citizenry in general feeling like the actions of our commonwealth are by common consent.

There are those who vote whose engagement and understanding I wonder about. And there are reasons expressed for making certain choices that leave me baffled as to why their perspective is even relevant. I won't lie: some ideas strike me as ignorant and uninformed. Yet the essence of democracy is that they get to vote, too, if they meet certain minimum criteria. The various pluralities, for elected officials and financial assessments and governance revisions to charters locally or constitutions on the state level, will decide. Majority rules.

Whichever top ticket candidate prevails, I have work to do locally not because my preferred candidate won or lost, but more likely to make the best use of the outcomes of other ballot matters which are not even on the local TV news let alone cable coverage. Certain things village residents are voting on will affect me quite personally, and county-wide the results of things like library levies and senior funding will be matters with impacts I will see, up close and personal.

So I pray for blessing on all those I see going about their civic business this day, in sporting togs or blue suits, with obvious partisan commitments or those whose actual sympathies I do not know and can't even suspect. Thank you most of all to the pollworkers, and a hearty thank you to my fellow voters, and may the blessing we have of taking part and doing our part spill over from us for the good of our community as a whole.

Decisions are being made on this day, but they are almost all decisions about what work we have to do the next day, and next year, and on into the next few. Take a deep breath, say a prayer as you are comfortable doing, and let's look on ahead -- to holiday movies, to the Candlelight Walking Tour, for a new year drawing near, and to continue serving together in addressing the needs around us.


Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he has political opinions and a basic commitment to democracy. Tell him about anarchy or any other option you prefer at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads.

Faith Works 11-8-24

Faith Works 11-8-24
Jeff Gill

How popular is pop culture, anyhow?
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To be clear: this column was written before Election Day.

So I'm not being discreet or non-topical, but pragmatic. How did it go? Well, by Friday I hope we know. Meanwhile…

Last weekend I was in Indianapolis, which was having a three-day Taylor Swift invasion, shows back to back and the city abuzz with excitement. Attendance records were set for Lucas Oil Stadium each night. In other words, it was BIG.

Well, I confess to having helped nudge a preacher into making a Taylor Swift reference early in Sunday's worship where I attend services while in town. The ministry staff there and I know each other, and with the news wall-to-wall Swift-centered coverage, plus the associate pastor had gone with his daughter, I made some comments online asking how Taylor's lyrics might make it into the themes of the day.

Then I doubled down on my semi-ironic pleading as I entered the church, but actually not thinking the senior minister would go there. However, he did. He opened the pre-service announcements saying "It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me." Pause.

Then he immediately asked, "so, how many of you know what that was a reference to?" On an average early service in that congregation, with the pews fairly well filled, of 150 people present only five raised their hands.

I think all five of us were somewhat surprised.

The senior pastor repeated the experiment, I suspect now out of curiosity, at the second service, where there were probably more like 200 present, and he messaged later that "about eight people raised their hands."

Taylor Swift was the dominant figure in TV news all weekend, and she's a pop culture behemoth, spilling over into NFL games (and if you don't know, I'm not going to explain it). But less than 4% of those present said they knew much of anything about her. Let the reader understand, as the Bible says.

I said to the associate after the service — who was wearing a special Taylor-themed jacket, yes with glitter involved — that this reminded me of a Wednesday Bible study I once had with about 50 attending each week. Once I made a reference to something about a popular film's account of personal sacrifice by way of an illustration, and then thought to ask "actually, how many of you have seen a Marvel superhero movie?" One lady proudly waved her hand. Just one, bless her. She wasn't the youngest person there, either, but she was the only one.

Later on, the same impulse led me to ask "how many of you have seen a Harry Potter movie, on TV or even just on a DVD?" None. Zip. Nada. (Yes, I know, some Christians have issues with Hogwarts etc., but it was still interesting. Is it possible some had, but weren't willing to say so in a church setting? Could be.)

In this pop culture context, and in the wake of the election, which again I hope is effectively over by the time you read this, I thought it useful to note this parallel point: according to the Census Bureau, in 2020 we had two-thirds of eligible voters participate in the general election. In terms of the country as a whole, that means only 48% of the nation's population voted (158.5 million vs. 330 million total).

If the winner gets 50.5%, that means they are still supported by something less than 24% of everyone. Sure, that includes children and people in assisted living and so on, but you see my point. Is "everyone" all wrapped up in the election, or in any one candidate? Like knowing a key Taylor Swift lyric or who Doctor Strange is, not so much.


Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; he's fairly sure he's the problem, but that's not Swift, that's Chesterton (look it up). Ask him about anything but elections at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads.