Today, on January 20, 2017 what I had known for two months took on the fullness of it's manifestation and I cried like a baby. I hadn't planned on crying, I thought I had shed all of my tears in November. But I guess you can say on Inauguration Day it hit me like a ton of bricks...and a profound sadness and disbelief slowly began to cover me like a blanket.
We did it. We elected a man with no experience and the maturity of an adolescent boy to do the hardest job in the world...and that same man turned around and chose a team with an equally grotesque lack of experience to do jobs of immense difficulty.
IT IS REALLY HAPPENING.
I was taught to always appreciate and be grateful for everything life, even the hard lessons. So in the midst of my tears I was grateful to have witnessed such a graceful, intelligent dignified leader in President Barack Obama.
Barack Hussein Obama is truly a man before his time. Both he and Joe Biden were class acts and brought an elegance, intellectual intelligence, inclusiveness and warmth to their two terms in leadership. They are simply amongst the BEST of what our country has been blessed to produce. And as Barack and Michelle Obama got into their helicopter and Joe and Jill Biden got into their car...I literally witnessed HOPE leave the White House.
For all of my republican friends...my sadness is not because the democrats lost, my sadness is a direct result of the character of the man who won. I assure you if John Kasich or Jeb Bush would have won there may be mild frustration over my disagreement with their policy choices....but not this, this...is something altogether different.
I have heard the cries of "Get over it!" or "Give him a chance" and to that I say...do we have a choice? No, we do not. Donald Trump is now the president of the United States of America, this is his chance. He did not win the popular vote. But he never had to, we are a republic so his chance is here all the same and I accept that.
To those who say, "Get over it"...what you are really suggesting is that those of us who are dismayed by his presidency forgive all of the past things he has said and done. As a Christian I am all about forgiveness but there is one important tenant of forgiveness and that is sorely missing in this Donald Trump scenario and it is paramount. Forgiveness requires repentance. The act of admission of wrong-doing and a decision to turn away from that behavior and pursue righteousness. Donald Trump has NEVER apologized for anything he has said or done. In fact, he has boasted about his lack of repentance with pride. How can we forgive a man who has not only refused to ask for it but celebrates and continues the behavior that has caused so many pain.
Donald Trump came to political prominence as the poster child of a crusade to delegitimize our countries first African American president. He announced his own candidacy for president by mischaracterizing an entire race of people. He then went on to bully, lie and intimidate his way through a campaign season that can only be referred to as the most negative in modern history. Which then culminated in a painful inauguration address where he did much of the same. Is it really that shocking that people have such a visceral reaction to his presidency?
My Christian faith and understanding of policy as well as the weight of the executive office in our country and the world would NOT allow me to vote for Donald Trump. However many evangelicals (myself NOT included) voted for Trump under the guise of faith...and frankly that is a hypocrisy that was not lost on the world. The world witnessed the duplicity of that choice and noted the brazen lack of integrity. Donald Trump admittedly has never asked Christ for forgiveness and obviously has not studied or applied the word of God to his life/actions in any shape, form or fashion.
However, Barack Obama, who openly honored his wife and his wedding vows as well as gave this country it's first scandal free presidency was consistently disparaged by the so-called Christian right and that frankly was WRONG. Though you may disagree with him on policy, Barack Obama openly professed Christ and manifested the fruits of the spirit in his actions. Donald Trump who is not a Christian and produced fruits of division and hate throughout his entire presidential campaign received the majority of the evangelical vote. That fact speaks more to the innate prejudice that is still rampant in this nation than to anything else.
I pray for Donald Trump and his family. Any man who has the need to lash out with such mean spirited comments and diminish others so that he looks good can not be happy or secure. I pray that one day he will come to know the true living God and that he will humble himself and allow the broken places in his heart and spirt to be healed by God's unending love and mercy.
Donald Trump is OUR president. Although I am not sure if he knows it because all of his speeches still seem to be to the few people who voted for him. However, he is now my president too and believe it or not I am already beginning to see the purposed-good that will arise from the ashes of this calamity. People are awake and aware in ways they haven't been before. Folk are taking a stand and fighting for whats right. Those who had fallen into a slumber under the Obama years are now paying attention for they know they must.
WE the people are galvanizing, organizing and determined that we will not go silently into the night. This country is OUR country and much like th efounders, we are willing to fight for it. 2017 will be a year marked by outstanding art and protest....for pain is often the birthplace of a beautiful revolution. Let The Resistance Begin.
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