Written after the Presidential election by the Rev. Joseph Martin, pastor of Fallsington UMC, and other Lower Bucks County area clergy, and published in the local newspaper, Courier Times.

This morning, we awoke to the results of an election that has bitterly divided our nation. It is tempting to proclaim winners and losers and to treat this election cycle like a sporting match where one party has emerged victorious at the expense of the other.

But to do so would be a grave mistake. In the aftermath of such an election season we will all need to work diligently to repair the damage done. Those who founded this country believed that there is more that unites us than there is that divides us.

The candidates who celebrate victory on election night must rise in the morning prepared to govern for the good of all people, including those who voted against them. To forget this is to forget the history of this great nation, to forget the ideals and the hope of government of the people, by the people, for the people.

We are leaders of faith communities that, for centuries, have had many disagreements. And yet, we believe that what is more important than those things that divide us are those things that brings us together.

In that spirit, our prayer for our community and for our nation is that we might set aside the rancor and bitterness of the campaign season and remember that we are Americans together.

Together, we pray for the wisdom to remember the challenge of Isaiah: that our life together depends upon our ability to turn the swords and spears of hostility and division into the plowshares and pruning hooks of peace and unity.

May God be with us all, and the wisdom of the Divine guide those who lead the people, this day and every day. Amen.