Let’s not take it for granted. Not anymore. Not ever.

The act of suffrage, that precious political inheritance we often forget we have, and more often take for granted, must be seen in this tumultuous and momentous time primarily as a high responsibility.

Above the fact that it is an individual right, enshrined in the political Scripture of our nation —be it our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, our First Amendment, or our Civil Rights Voting Act— the act of participating in the politial life of the nation by casting a vote on Election Day, particularly this coming Tuesday, Nov. 6, is a solemn responsibility.

Responsibility, I say,  because what is at stake is this city we live in, this Commonwealth of ours we work at — indeed our whole nation’s fate, now at stake.

The nation’s future we will leave behind to our children and grandchildren. That is how serious this has become.

If we remain indifferent, or too busy on Election Day, hard-pressed as we are running around to earn our living, we might not have a living to make in the future. In the time of our children’s, and also our grandchildren’s future.

Take the evil we saw in a Pittsburgh synagogue, here in our Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where 11 souls were taken in another monstrous attack on holy ground. Not much different from the vigilantes shooting immigrants on the border, which is never reported in the news.

The indifference, callousness, and vitriolic remarks, or, worse yet, the utter silence at the highest spheres of our national government and Congress, must be seen simply as a call to action, a REAL call to action for those who prefer civility, charity, and truth, which we believe is the majority of Americans.

Waking up early on Tuesday, Nov. 6, and going first thing to vote— or making time in our busy day to stop by the polling place, or to run to catch that last opportunity before the polls close in the evening, is the real race we have ahead of us, U.S. citizens of ALL backgrounds.

The race is on and it is clearly one in which we must vanquish those who “first came for the undocumented...”

To quote the adapted-to-the-times version of German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller’s memorable message:

“First they came for the undocumented, but I didn’t speak out — because I wasn’t undocumented.”

“Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew.”

“Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Vote on Tuesday. It is, this time, a historic duty.