It is a truthuniversally acknowledged that the medium, if not the message itself, shapes the message, midwifes the message, and delivers the message.

Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980), a Canadian philosopher of communication theory, not only foresaw the Internet but bequeathed this popular phrase, "The medium is the message." Since I work with words and consider them the material of miracles, I like to think that words are powerful on their own, anywhere, in any medium. But lately I have been considering how powerful the medium is truly becoming, far more than McLuhan could have dreamed.

In our parish church we use a liturgy that can be dated to the eleventh-century Sarum rite in Salisbury, England; the daily hours, the psalter, go back to seventh-century monasteries. But more to the point is that many generations have said and say these same words, as though taking part in a great drama, weekly, sometimes daily. The words form phrases of timeless truth that were honed and perfected in Elizabethan translations of the old Latin, so that in many ways what we say evokes a Shakespearean play. The words are big words with large theological consequences of sin and redemption, sorrow and joy, darkness and light. These words make a difference in our hearts and lives,here and now. The language serves a clear purpose, to bring us in from the profane and secular world so that we can partake of the sacred and holy one, uniting the two. The language rebirths and recreates us, returning us to the secular world to be living mediums for the message. Our lives become words and the medium merges with the message in our own bodies.

The medium that holds these words, this message, is print on paper, pages bound into a book. But the same words come to us through the medium of our own speech as we say and sing them and through the medium of our ears as we hear them said and sung. Thesharedexperience of the people - the shared space, language, speech, processions, and the prayers and creeds spoken as one voice - is also a medium. So the medium of ritual provides a powerful experience of meaning, of message. We have pulled the heart from each word; we have traveled centuries with each word; we have looked into heaven with each word.

Such ritual is part of social constructions as well. Where it is ignored, society becomes deconstructed, torn apart. Where it is recognized as necessary, society weaves together, for a commonality is shared. In a democracy, we are reminded of such shared values through mediums of patriotic rituals: celebrating national holidays with parades and ceremonies, saluting the flag, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, singing patriotic songs, honoring memorials, monuments, and heroes of our shared history. When these mediums of our nation's message are ignored, or worse, belittled, democracy is threatened, for we act as individuals or self-interested groups rather than as one body, Americans with shared ideals expressed in common language and recalled through common history.

As we approach our nation's midterm elections, messages and mediums become hugely important. Illiteracy and short attention spans unfortunately demand entertaining mediums, TV and sound bites. Voters choose candidates and policy based on flashing images and pulsating phrases, delivered by powerful interest groups. A candidate today must be politically correct in appearance, attractive and charismatic. Votes are cast for race, gender, and other superficial standards.

It would not matter if these were high school elections for cheerleader or class president. But, as we have seen in the last two presidential elections, telegenic and scholarly does not mean experienced, and pretty words and phrases do not equal sound policy. Words are mediums for something greater; they must point to keeping us safe and our communities law-abiding. They must reflect constitutional protections to freedom of speech, religion, association.

Our colorful and rich diversity is one of the many glories of our nation, but we must melt into one pot we call America; we must share language and history; we must not forget who we are, but keep the message alive with each generation through the medium of patriotism, through symbol, ritual, and story. If we do not do this, if we do not pass on our shared story, we shall fragment, weaken, and be conquered by those who do not share our love for America and her freedoms.

I look to this moment in our national history, this first Tuesday in November of 2014, praying that the many voices of America will reflect educated choices, ones that respect law, liberty, and freedom of expression, ones that understand the power of this American message expressed in the greatest medium of all, a single vote.