On Election Day in the morning ...

My cousin, Kathy, shared this advice from John Wesley today as Election Day dawned and It's worthy of being passed on.

Here's a little background --- In October 1774, Wesley was preaching in small English towns near Bristol, where a contentious election for Parliament was underway. The chief candidates were Edmund Burke and Henry Cruger, who differed in their political ideologies, their positions on the American colonies and their support from religious groups.

In his journal, Wesley called it “[one of the most] exciting elections Bristol has ever had.”

In the days leading up to the election, while in the town of Pill, he met with members of the local Methodist society, and offered this guidance:

"October 6, 1774. I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them (1) to vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy; (2) to speak no evil of the person they voted against; and (3) to take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side."

So vote today (preferably for a straight Democrat ticket and against the gun amendment), then relax for a few hours and breathe deeply. Results won't be in until evening and there will be plenty of time in the following days to assess and, if necessary, fuss and fume and strategize.