Voices: You look like the governor

Every election leaves some people celebrating and others grieving. Sometimes those people share a dinner table. Sometimes they share a church pew.

There are no perfect candidates. There are no perfect voters, either. We all bring our hopes, fears, convictions, and blind spots.

As a pastor, I found it fascinating to watch a seminarian in Texas and a pastor in Kansas win seats in the United States Senate. James Talarico and Adam Hamilton brought the language of faith into public life, including the familiar and demanding invitation to love our neighbors.

Sometimes, our politics get so loud, we struggle to hear something good coming from someone on the other side. I hope we can keep listening.

But what moved me most about the midterm results was representation.

Representation

Five Black governors will serve simultaneously next year, a first in American history. At least 17 women will serve as governors, also a record. Those milestones include our country’s first Black woman governor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, and its first Native American woman governor, Deb Haaland. Here in Texas, Gina Hinojosa will become our first Latina governor.

As a father of daughters, this matters to me.

I get to serve as pastor of Ecclesia, a church with three campuses in the Houston area.

Downtown, our ethnic and economic diversity feels miraculous, and the community serves our unhoused neighbors beautifully. Our west side campus is filled with remarkable families in a wealthy neighborhood.

North of the 610 Loop, our campus serves a predominantly Latino neighborhood with a multitude of services, including a Head Start preschool. Children and families in this community have felt the fear and trauma of ICE raids.

I think about the 40 young girls in that Head Start preschool, the gifts they carry, and the lives ahead of them. There will be something especially beautiful about looking them in the eyes and saying: “Te pareces a la gobernadora de Tejas. You look like the governor of Texas.”

Imagine what a young girl might hear in those words: “Someone who looks like me can lead this state. Maybe I could, too. Maybe I could be president.”

Recognition

When Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983, she helped change what girls could imagine for their own lives. A possibility had become a person they could see.

Scripture gives us a deeper foundation for recognizing that possibility. Genesis tells us women and men bear God’s image. Their dignity has always been there, whether our institutions recognized it or not.

And at Pentecost, Peter announces a promise that includes sons and daughters prophesying, young people seeing visions, and old people dreaming dreams.

Our daughters have something to say. Our communities need their gifts. Part of our calling is to help them recognize those gifts and imagine where they might lead.

An election doesn’t finish that work. But sometimes it gives us a new sentence to speak into a child’s life: “You look like the governor.”

And someday, someone might say that because they look like you.

In James 2, we are warned against favoritism—giving some people the best seats while asking others to stand off to the side. James brings us back to the royal law found in Scripture: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (James 2:8).

That invitation reaches every one of us, whatever our politics. Make room. Recognize the dignity of your neighbor. Celebrate the gifts of people whose lives and stories are different from your own.

We can find unity in our diversity. We don’t have to look alike, vote alike, or agree on everything to love one another and seek the good of our community.

Our daughters are watching. Let’s show them a world where their gifts are welcomed, their voices matter, and there is room for them to lead.

Chris Seay is the lead pastor of Ecclesia Houston. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.

The feature image attached to this opinion article is from The Texas Tribune article “With Democrats unexpectedly in control, Gina Hinojosa will have more power than she ever imagined.”