“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Most of us, even if we have not read Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, are familiar with these very famous opening lines. However, most of us do not know the rest of the line. Dickens goes on to list numerous opposites that define the period such as wisdom and foolishness, Light and Darkness, hope and despair, and then ends by saying “in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.” In other words, people are always wanting to make out their own time period as either the best or the worst. Currently, according to most of the voices one hears in politics and media, we are living in what Dickens’ called “the winter of despair.” If you think about it, this claim is a sensible one for them to make. Fear and despair sell newspapers and acquire votes because they make stories and opinions appealing and relevant, whether one is afraid of immigrants and Muslims or in despair concerning the so-called “basket of deplorables.” No wonder everyone in our culture seems so negative and this election season seems like the end of the world. Negativity sells and the end of time matters to people. The trouble is, these are not the worst of times.

In general, conservatives tend to have a longing for the “good old days,” which is perfectly fine if balanced with a realistic understanding of the world. The problem occurs when we become convinced that the “good old days” were so idyllic and now everything is just headed to hell in a hand basket and it’s the worst it has ever been. There is definitely an underlying sense of this in much of the political rhetoric out there today. However, this is just demonstratively not true. We are not currently fighting a bloody civil war or full-blown world war. We are not subject to the Great Depression, rationing or an immediate threat of nuclear war. Slavery has been abolished and women and people of color are at least technically considered full citizens with full and equal rights. As I once heard a professor say, “The good old days are mostly just old,” and things are far from the worst they have ever been.

On the other end of the spectrum, liberals generally have a longing for a utopian future, which again is great if balanced with a realistic outlook. The problem with utopias, though, is that they do not exist. Utopia, which we usually use to mean “good place,” is actually Greek for “no place” if translated literally. Though things can, do and have gotten better, they also get worse and nothing is ever perfect. Any serious Calvinist ought to have enough respect for total depravity to see that on this side of heaven, we are never going to achieve some sort of Star Trek-like utopian society in which crime, racism, sexism, homophobia and all the other awful things have been wholly expunged. This seems a depressing view of the future, but it does stop us from staking all our hope on an earthly future that will never be fully realized and in the meantime despairing at how terrible things are.

Whether liberal or conservative, everyone recently (and always) seems to think that these are the worst of times and that this next election makes all the difference and will save or doom the world, depending on who wins. But this is neither the best of times nor the worst. It is just our times. It is also the time of “already but not yet” in regards to the Kingdom of God. As Christians, we are assured that everything will ultimately be okay, but we have work to do now. “God’s in his Heaven/All’s right with the world!” writes Robert Browning. This is clearly hyperbole, for all is most certainly not right with the world, but I like the sentiment because it reminds me not to worry too much because God is in his heaven and knows what he is doing. Whether you idealize the future or the past, both are a mixed bag or good and bad and God is in control regardless of the outcome of the election. So vote for whomever you think is best for the country, but do not fall into the trap of thinking that this is the worst of times and the future depends on you or your candidate. That is arrogant and also terrifying. Instead, work hard to do what is right, give thanks that things are far better than they could be, and then trust God to handle the rest. In summary, keep calm. God’s got this.