Costa Mesa church members forego politics for peace during election night vigil
As ballots were counted Tuesday for races still too close to call and anxious pundits speculated where political futures might be heading, one Costa Mesa church spent election night offering prayers for peace and reconciliation, no matter the outcome.
Members gathered at First United Methodist Church of Costa Mesa for a Vigil of Peace and Centering, engaging in a multisensory experience designed to combat Election Day anxieties, tension and fatigue.
Rev. Matt Hambrick, who leads congregants at the LGBTQ+-inclusive West 19th Street facility and its sister church in Mesa Verde, said pastors are hearing from members about families, friends and colleagues being torn asunder by conflicting political viewpoints.
So, when a member approached church leaders about countering Election Day worries with practices and traditions grounded in togetherness, acceptance and love, Hambrick was all in.
“The first election I remember, when I was too young to vote, was Reagan’s second election. It was contentious. People had thoughts about the Cold War and nuclear energy and weapons,” he recalled Tuesday. “I’ve seen many elections since then, but I’ve never seen anything like this and the anxiety and tension people are experiencing now. You cannot escape it.”
The sanctuary opened its doors to the public Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., offering a special service that began at 7 p.m. and ended with a prolonged prayer of silence.
Visitors were welcomed at the entrance to the sanctuary with a beatific image of public television icon Mister Rogers, himself an ordained Presbyterian minister and peacenik.
“Mister Rogers always said, when you see things that are scary, to look for the people who are helping,” Hambrick said. “When you’re looking for faith and justice and all these amazing people in the world, you will find them.”
Participants interacted with displays encouraging them to stop and smell, taste, touch and listen as a means of more deeply activating their awareness of the present moment. Separate stations offered tiny bottles of essential oil and cotton balls, ribbons for winding and feeling during prayer and chocolates and chips for tasting.
Attendees were also invited to sit in a quiet room equipped with weighted blankets or sing along with a church band playing songs of devotion.
The displays were curated by Bobbie Lee Thorne, a First United Methodist chiropractor who said they’d noticed a strange uptick in neck and back problems among clients in recent weeks.
“I’d say, “What’s stressing you out?” and, generally, it was the election,” the 63-year-old Tustin resident said. “It didn’t matter whether it was a Democrat or Republican — you start talking about the election and everybody feels there’s something great at stake.”
Unfortunately, prolonged exposure to mental or emotional distress can cause a person’s sympathetic nervous system to get stuck in an adrenaline-fueled “fight or flight” response.
To combat that, one must activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which governs sleep, digestion and relaxation, through soothing activities. Eating causes salivary glands to send signals to the brain to calm down, while diaphragmatic breathing and singing stimulate the Vagus nerve, whose signals also calm brain activity.
Thorne said centering oneself is an important part of living the teachings of Jesus.
“Jesus asked us to, no matter what, love your neighbor,” they said. “[To do that] we need to be centered and grounded first. And if we want our neighbors to receive that love, they need to be centered and grounded as well.”
During Tuesday’s service, Hambrick spoke on the importance of faith and being still enough to hear God’s message. The program ended with 25 minutes of silence, intended to last until the 8 p.m. closing of voting centers, at which point Hambrick offered a final prayer.
“This is us, releasing our hopes, our fears, our dreams and our wishes to the hands of God. That silence is a protest that we will not be afraid, that we will not fear.”
Afterward, parishioners Jonathan Ming, 28, of Costa Mesa and 85-year-old Huntington Beach resident Corinne Neal talked together in the church’s vestibule.
Ming said he wanted to be in a welcoming, inclusive space after hearing so much violent rhetoric during the campaign season. Neal hugged him, saying afterward she felt calmed by the evening and hoped to take that feeling out into the broader community.
“I think I came here needing a hug, so I appreciate that,” Ming told her.
“Here, let me give you another one,” she said, enfolding him in her arms once more.
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