There is a great deal to celebrate in the aftermath of yesterday’s historical election. One can begin with the fact that America has come to the place where an African-American can be elected to the highest office in this country. It has been pointed out that forty-five years ago a man with skin the color of our next President would have had trouble being served in a diner in many states in our country.

            We must also consider and celebrate what may be an historic turnout of voters. People in numbers never before seen took the time and concerned themselves enough to go to the polls yesterday. Democracy requires the participation of the citizens. It cannot work well, may not work at all over any period of time if the people do not take part. In this election cycle the people chose to be involved and the country should be thankful for that.

            We should also celebrate the increased involvement of young voters. Pundits will consider and debate for a long time why this election, why this set of circumstances, why these candidates raised the awareness of young people to the point that they not only voted, but that they got involved. But whatever the reasons, the fact that young people cared about this election is good news.

            We should celebrate that citizens who are minorities felt they had a reason to vote. This is not exactly the same as the fact that the country was ready to elect a black man as President. It is instead a recognition that minorities finally saw conditions in America when they were truly equal and had a person to vote for who truly understood what had held them back all these years.

            But this election raises many concerns as well as reasons for celebration. To begin with a thought that is the neighbor of the last reason given for celebration, one must be concerned that many votes were cast in this election for no reason other than the skin color of one or the other of the candidates. Some voted against our next President because he was black, others voted for him for no other reason. In his acceptance speech, the nominee mentioned Dr. King and we would have had better reason to celebrate if we had remembered that minister’s wish that man would be judged “not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.”

            We also should have concern that many who went to the polls yesterday did so with the anticipation that they were voting for greater government involvement in their lives. Many expect government to do more. Many feel there are entitled to more. Many expect our new President to solve all their problems, whether it is the need for gasoline in their car or their inability to make their mortgage payment. If this country loses, or has already lost, the citizen who is willing to be responsible for himself we have concerns that will exist long beyond this election.

            We also must be concerned as well that, despite oratory from the next President that we will forever be one nation, we remain, in many ways, a deeply divided nation. There are elements within our citizenry who seek to take God out of the public intercourse. We are riven over the rights of a mother to choose and the rights of an unborn child to live. We cannot reconcile the rights of all those who choose to come to this country with the security of our borders that is essential to our continued freedom.

            We must also be concerned with what path this country will inevitably choose. There are those who will seek to place our country in the position of world conciliator and remove us from the position of the world’s policeman. There are those who believe that we have the power to persuade all those who seek a world very different than we would choose.   There are those who are convinced that the world can come together and that justice can prevail without need of force. If that were available for the wishing we would all indeed have much more to celebrate. But evil has not left the world and will not leave on our desires alone.