First, let's get something out of the way. This is not a political Blog. And this is not a political Post. It is not about Clinton vs. Trump. It is a contemporary Christian Post about you and me, and all the American People of God, Catholic and otherwise. It is about us and God, who in the form of Jesus became human and thus became deeply involved in all things human for the sake of the Kingdom of God on Earth and into Eternity. That's different from politics.
That said, this post is about Donald Trump's human, spiritual challenge to America. Mr. Trump's view of America is neither Republican nor Conservative. Nor American. It is exclusively his own, private view. And it is based in his own, private hate. That's where this Post comes in. Hate is not the opposite of love. Hate is the absence of love that should be present in everyone and everywhere. It is a black hole that annihilates everything that it pulls into itself. Hate is the closest thing to Hell here on earth.
Mr. Trump's program of hate directly attacks our humanity. It attacks our human and American soul. It attacks the Kingdom of God on Earth, Christ's reign of wholeness in love that has begun here in space/time and will be completely fulfilled in Eternity.
So why should I thank Mr. Trump for his hate? Because he is giving us Christians and all Americans of good will the clear challenge and opportunity to revitalize and remake our country, so we conform more closely to our highest ideals--which we have allowed to weaken over the past decades--ideals of life, liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans and for all peoples of the world.
This week, the pressure to revitalize and remake our country was brought to a critical point by Mr. Trump's attack against a Muslim-American couple and their heroic, fallen son. His unspeakable act of darkness was not just a slip of his tongue or a political mistake but a crystal clear exposition of his dark soul. He can't see anyone or anything beyond himself. It is deeply frightening that from a psychological and spiritual point of view, Mr. Trump is a dark person, humanly and spiritually devoid of empathy or compassion. This Post is not about Trump vs. Clinton, who has her own faults. Far beyond any political consideration, it is about the fact that Mr. Trump personally cannot possibly be given the responsibility of being President of the United States.
I therefore thank Mr. Trump for so clearly and urgently presenting us with this vital challenge. In a very real way, we are back to 1776. The King we must now rebel against is the darkness, dissipation and hate that Mr. Trump so clearly plans to inflict upon our country. Our rebellion must take us beyond our political views, deep into ourselves, to a place that our shallow over-individualized, over-politicized culture does not permit us to recognize. In the words of poet, T. S. Eliot, we must find the still point of the turning world, the place of peace, light, generosity and love that lives within ourselves and today's society, where we meet the Spirit of all-embracing peace and love in the form of Christ's grace. And we must hear Christ's quiet, urgent call to become over more discerning People of God and ever more effective prophets who work to elevate and, where necessary, humbly correct our politics and our society in the love of Christ.
Our politicians won't help much. Most if not all of them are stuck in their windowless silos. Most can't see past their own point of view and thirst for power. Most can't see the human picture, the spiritual picture, the picture of wholeness in love.
The Media is awash with shallow and mediocre reporters and commentators who can't or won't tell the truth for fear of losing access to the "big players" and thus losing ratings.
With few exceptions, e.g., Chicago, our clergy and bishops won't help much. They simply don't know how to lead us to the Spirit within ourselves and today's society. Our seminaries teach future priests and bishops morals, especially sexual morals, doctrines and law and authority, without forming them as spiritual leaders who can help us move further along our spiritual pathway, on our own everyday terms, in today's society. Pope Francis knows this problem and is trying, against strong episcopal and Curial opposition, to solve it.
Happily, we do have our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution to help us clearly work toward creating a more perfect union and toward moving more closely to our spiritual goal of wholeness in love.
We also have theologians and spiritual writers and teachers. Back in the last century, theologian Karl Rahner said that tomorrow's (now, today's) Catholics will either be mystics or they won't exist at all. This blog shows how we are already everyday mystics. Of very great help are the many outstanding books by Franciscan Richard Rohr and his wonderful lectures now on You Tube. For example, Rohr shows us that we have the wrong idea of God, one that does not fit today's society but is fit for helping drive people from the Church and even for creating atheists. (I'll write about this in my next Post.) For those with a theological bent, the books by Sister Ilia Delio are outstanding. She brings Teilhard de Chardin's evolutionary God into today's evolutionary world.
We also have Sister Joan Chittister's exemplary writings, and the shining example of Sister Simone Campbell and the Nuns on the Bus, who bring peace and social justice to the streets of today's society.
However we do it, in small ways or large, we must face the urgent challenge that Donald Trump is presenting to us. Republicans must push their Party to somehow neutralize or remove the evil that Mr. Trump is offering. All of us, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Liberals, Conservatives, cannot allow our beloved country to fall deeper into the darkness that is open before us. We can and must all come together to create a better, more unified, more just, peaceful and hope-filled America.
God bless us, everyone!
