I sat through the campaign speeches.
I've seen the interviews.
I read the tweets.
I listened to the press conferences from the White House lawn.
And he was not my choice for president.
It's one thing to decide on whether you like a leader based on what others say about him. And it's quite another when you hear for yourself the words he says in unedited media footages from news corporations that support him. I saw and heard too many red flags...
...the lack of financial transparency (i.e., he refuses to make his tax returns public)
...the name-calling ("Dummy Beto", "Fat Jerry", "Crazy Bernie", "Weirdo Tom Stayer", "Low IQ Maxine Waters", "No talent Samantha Bee", "The Dumbest Man on Television Don")
...the racist remarks ("Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?")
...his disrespect of the law ("I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters.")
...his overinflated opinion of himself ("...if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the economy of Turkey... I've done before!")
...his criticisms of other preidents, even though he does the same things himself (i.e., frequent golfing trips)
Yet despite his character flaws and shortcomings he is the person God ANOINTED to lead the United States. God can use anyone. He used Moses after he murdered an Egyptian. He used David despite his adultery. He used Samson despite him squandering his strength for the sake of a woman. He used Paul despite the persecutions he laid upon the early Christian church. And despite Donald Trump's past and present failings God has chosen to use him. And because of that, I choose to respect the man and the office he's in and try to find things that I could admire. Here are some of them...
...he listens to Godly counsel
...he leads the country in prayer
...he is not ashamed of publicly professing his faith
...he is against abortion
...he leads the country in prayer
...he is not ashamed of publicly professing his faith
...he is against abortion
...his policies on the economy have proven effective
...his nationalism
We do tend to hold our leaders to a higher standard, standards that we ourselves find hard to live by. But because of the nature and the level of responsibility and accountability of the position they seek and occupy, we often lay expectations on their shoulders that are often too idealistic; and when they don't live up to them, when they don't fit the mold we want to put them in we react in a negative way. I'm not saying we can't have those reactions; our humanity often fails us in this aspect. But if we can't get past our dislike of the person (or the hate in some cases), who is it really hurting?
President Trump does not have a shortage of haters and detractors, people who are hell-bent on disrupting his presidency and refuse to honor him despite the good things he's done for the country (i.e., decreased unemployment rate). I certainly understand where they're coming from. However, the presidency is the highest office of the land and, whether we like the person who holds it or not, we need to stand united behind it and pray that the leader tasked to uphold its functions would succeed because the country depends on it.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the debates concerning the president's seeming inability to lead the country out of this crisis. When asked about the clumsy way virus testing was handled he said, "I don't take responsibility at all." All his critics had a field day out of that because the tacit understanding is if you're the leader, the buck stops with you. But the fact that President Trump deflected the blame to the previous administration instead of owning up to his own's mistakes, has given the opposition ammunition to tear him down.
But Trump is anything but a cowering boy in the lunchroom. So he naturally lashed back and so begins the barrage of Tweets against governors, mayors, and reporters who fired at him. But all this verbal back-and-forth, though understandable and in some cases necessary (because healthy discourses serve its purpose) will not solve this health crisis and neither will it move the country forward. As citizens, we need to learn how to tune out the noise coming from either side of the aisle and focus on being part of the solution.
Instead of nitpicking and pointing out the things the president is doing wrong, let's highlight the positive ones. Instead of sitting on the couch and screaming at the TV every time Donald Trump has a press briefing, let's find opportunities to help (e.g., volunteer, donate, motivate/encourage someone, etc.). Instead of focusing on why we don't like him, let's find reasons why we could. It may not be readily apparent but I am sure he is trying his best. His health is at risk too. His family is at risk too. America is his country too.
Think about it this way: would you rather be him at this critical moment in our history? Would you be able to do a better job? I certainly wouldn't and I don't know if I could. So, let's be gracious. Pray. And pray some more.
May God bless the president. And may God bless America.
We do tend to hold our leaders to a higher standard, standards that we ourselves find hard to live by. But because of the nature and the level of responsibility and accountability of the position they seek and occupy, we often lay expectations on their shoulders that are often too idealistic; and when they don't live up to them, when they don't fit the mold we want to put them in we react in a negative way. I'm not saying we can't have those reactions; our humanity often fails us in this aspect. But if we can't get past our dislike of the person (or the hate in some cases), who is it really hurting?
President Trump does not have a shortage of haters and detractors, people who are hell-bent on disrupting his presidency and refuse to honor him despite the good things he's done for the country (i.e., decreased unemployment rate). I certainly understand where they're coming from. However, the presidency is the highest office of the land and, whether we like the person who holds it or not, we need to stand united behind it and pray that the leader tasked to uphold its functions would succeed because the country depends on it.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the debates concerning the president's seeming inability to lead the country out of this crisis. When asked about the clumsy way virus testing was handled he said, "I don't take responsibility at all." All his critics had a field day out of that because the tacit understanding is if you're the leader, the buck stops with you. But the fact that President Trump deflected the blame to the previous administration instead of owning up to his own's mistakes, has given the opposition ammunition to tear him down.
But Trump is anything but a cowering boy in the lunchroom. So he naturally lashed back and so begins the barrage of Tweets against governors, mayors, and reporters who fired at him. But all this verbal back-and-forth, though understandable and in some cases necessary (because healthy discourses serve its purpose) will not solve this health crisis and neither will it move the country forward. As citizens, we need to learn how to tune out the noise coming from either side of the aisle and focus on being part of the solution.
Instead of nitpicking and pointing out the things the president is doing wrong, let's highlight the positive ones. Instead of sitting on the couch and screaming at the TV every time Donald Trump has a press briefing, let's find opportunities to help (e.g., volunteer, donate, motivate/encourage someone, etc.). Instead of focusing on why we don't like him, let's find reasons why we could. It may not be readily apparent but I am sure he is trying his best. His health is at risk too. His family is at risk too. America is his country too.
Think about it this way: would you rather be him at this critical moment in our history? Would you be able to do a better job? I certainly wouldn't and I don't know if I could. So, let's be gracious. Pray. And pray some more.
May God bless the president. And may God bless America.
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| Washington Monument (Washington, DC) |
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