Photo of early voter courtesy of AP

I woke up this morning, got my kids off to school, and then did the single most important thing I would do all day.

I went to church and led Morning Prayer with a small handful of other parishioners.

After that, I voted.

Our little group that gathers for Morning Prayer every Tuesday had discussed canceling the service today because it fell on Election Day morning. We’re all politically aware enough so that we were planning to vote, and many of us have other daily obligations. We’d heard all the stories predicting unusually long lines and waits. In the end, we chose to hold the service, and not to worry about how many people might turn up.

Interestingly, my precinct’s polling place is in a church auditorium. Someone had placed a sign near the line of waiting voters that read (I’m quoting from memory so this might not be verbatim): “If you wish to pray before or after voting, you are welcome to use the sanctuary.” I chuckled, since I had already done my praying. I wondered if there were any people in line who were offended by the sign. I wasn’t, but I could imagine it rubbing someone the wrong way.

After I voted, finding myself strangely moved by the whole experience, I did in fact make use of the sanctuary. I was alone in there, and happy to have a moment to myself. My prayers were wordless thanksgiving. Obviously I did nothing to deserve being born in the United States in the twentieth century, the child of educated and loving parents, but surely this accident of birth is in large measure responsible for my having lived 40 years in a context of civic peace, relative prosperity, and basic good health. Maybe I’m just lucky. I choose to see myself as blessed.

I’m not sure what to make of any of this, except that it felt good to bracket my voting with prayer. If you’re reading this while the polls are still open (up to 7:00 p.m. in St. Louis), and haven’t yet voted, I hope you will get out and do so. If you have voted but haven’t yet taken a moment to pray today, I hope you will do that, too.

One nice thing about prayer: no deadlines and no waiting.