Election 2020, possibly the longest, most stressful election in our nation’s history, has finally come to a close. We have a new president-elect. You can be forgiven if you thought of the election as an end point, the finish line. We have a habit of talking about it that way in our national conversations. But of course, it’s not. This is the moment the real work begins. This is the moment we have to decide who we as a nation actually are, who we want to be and how we move forward.

We are about to face some truths.

Economists have been telling us for a long while that the thriving economy is a false economy, sort of a Hollywood set propped up to make us happy. We will need to face this. Climate change is real, and it is happening at an ever-increasing pace. We will need to face this. People of color face bias and hate every day in a world some of us pretend is fair. We will have to face this. And right now, Americans are dying because of a virus that is all too real – and our rate of dying is greater than it would have been because, instead of facts, we were fed more pleasant lies. We have no choice but to face this, too.

Speaking truth is more than just a nice idea, though. Honesty not only determines who we are, it shapes the world, and it is fundamentally essential to democracy. In the words of Karen Murphy, a global expert in reconciliation, “… one thing we have to do is restore truth. The basis of democracy is relationships. And trust is the glue.” If we want our nation to survive, we are going to have to return truth to the conversation. Honest Abe was able to do what he did because of who he was.

Yes, we are about to face some truths, and it will not, I suspect, be easy. But it is necessary. And, as with all things, the ends do not justify the means, they are a culmination of them. Which is to say, how we shape our future determines what the shape will be. Process is product. We must be the change, not become what we fought against. I am reminded of the Buddhist tenet: “Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates: Is it true, is it necessary, is it kind?”

This next part is going to be hard, but we know how to do it. My question is, do we have the commitment? Do we have the love of country, love of democracy, the love of our neighbors, to roll up our sleeves, tell the truths, restore relationships and create a meaningful new future? I believe we do.