It’s Jan. 7. The results of a free and fair election were confirmed Monday in a peaceful transfer of power . Although the election did not go as I had hoped, this is what democracy looks like. Not violent insurrection.

So what now?

Stacey Abrams recently said that we shouldn’t focus now on resistance but insistence, and I like that reframe.

Those who value a society of inclusion, love, compassion and justice cannot afford to retreat or hide their heads in the sand. That is how authoritarianism triumphs, when good people are just exhausted and simply go into survival mode.

So we who supported a free and fair election can insist that we continue to be a nation that has democratic norms that cannot be ignored. We can insist that the rights of the last, the lost and the least are defended. We can insist that human dignity is valued. We can insist that we steward and not destroy our natural resources. We can insist that the rule of law in this nation is not discarded in the dust bin of history.

Will it be easy?

No.

What form will it take?

To be honest, I have no idea right now. My suspicion is that it will continue to evolve, but evolution requires engagement. But is it worth fighting for?

Absolutely.

The survival of our democracy, and in fact our very planet, depends on the fact that a “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from this earth.”