She's prayed every day for Trump


I have known some wonderful nuns in my time. Ex-nuns, too. One of my favorites used to live right here in town. Worked in City Hall, even, before she decided to pursue the life of a Sister of Peace.

She's totally into the spirituality thing. She's committed her life to it. And she's able to rise above so much, staying attuned to the higher calling that she hears.

When Trump became President, as the rest us fumed, my friend decided that she would offer up a daily prayer for him. I'm know she's as outraged as anyone about the atrocities that have been committed every single day by the administration, but every single day she prays. From the heart.

Yesterday, for example, she wrote: "Dear @potus, praying you experience the peace and mercy of God and find some peace in your heart and mind as you finish your time in the White House."

I could never be like my friend, but I could be a little bit more like her than I am today. So I'm listening.

When you pray, you’re in relationship. And I have noticed over the years that I am more and more able to recognize his humanity and the brokenness that is behind many of his policies. Somehow that has helped me to not demonize.

Pope Francis would say we have the globalization of indifference on the one hand, but we also have this movement towards dehumanization. So, the public prayer practice that I’ve committed to has helped me to not respond to fear with fear or hate with hate. That has been a formative process for me.

Being so angry, so distraught, about our country these days, I've gone the opposite route. It's not good for anybody. There's still a monumental battle on, but maybe praying for the bad guys, at least recognizing their humanity, should be part of the strategy.

They are people, after all. They are broken people.

Comments

  1. I'm glad there are people like her out there willing to embrace the humanity in even the worst of us. The best thing I can say about Trump is that he's a mammal.

    ReplyDelete

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