Lynn Slaughter

My older son got to attend the Democratic Convention, and I got to watch it for four nights on television. We had fun yesterday on the phone comparing notes on what we saw, heard, and felt. To say we were both inspired is the understatement of the year.  The attendees looked like America—a rich tapestry of multi-cultural, multi-racial, and multi-generational folks from all parts of the country. It was beautiful.

Lots of words come to mind to describe the convention, an event that epitomized incredible energy, joy, a renewal of hope, a determination not to “go back but move forward,” and an emphasis on freedom, inclusion, and justice and opportunity for all.

But my favorite word to describe it is love—love of country, neighbors, parents, and family.

One of the biggest chants from the crowd was “U.S.A.”  These folks are patriots, people who genuinely love America and don’t want to lose it to the purveyors of hate and authoritarianism. They are fired up to preserve our democracy. They are fired up by love.

And who can forget the recollections of Governor Walz and Vice-President Harris about their childhoods, so different and yet so similar in their descriptions of neighbors who cared for one another and “had each other’s backs.” I can’t help but feel that in this age of ever-present cell phones and social media, we’ve lost some of that. But there is a longing to renew that kind of face-to-face neighborly caring and love.

I was also struck by the tremendous love and gratitude expressed by both Kamala Harris and Michelle Obama for their mothers who taught them  important life lessons about caring and compassion, hard work, and the importance of never doing anything “half-assed.” I loved Kamala Harris’s mom telling her, “Stop complaining and do something,” as well as her admonition not to “let anyone tell you who you are—you show them.” Words to live by for all of us.

My son attended a session on antisemitism led by Doug Emhoff. “He was really good, Mom,” he told me, and “boy, does he ever love Kamala!” That was apparent in his convention floor speech when he hilariously described his first phone call to his future wife and went on to talk about the ways in which Kamala had transformed his life and family and had done and would continue to do wonderful things for our country.

I was also so moved by the tears of seventeen-year-old Gus as he watched his dad, Governor Walz, accept the VP nomination. “That’s my dad,” he cried, so full of love and admiration for his father, as were Coach Walz’s football players who appeared on stage and the long list of others who’d worked with him and spoke about his character. Of course, any football coach and high school teacher who volunteers to be the faculty advisor for the Gay-Straight Student Alliance, as Coach Walz did, has my vote!

The outpouring of love at this convention is something I will always remember. What a lovely antidote to all the vitriol and meanness that has infected so much of our culture and politics.

I was reminded of the statement in Corinthians:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.