So. Donald Trump is our new president. Now what are we to do? I say, let’s all just take a deep breath. There are two extremes which trouble me that currently seem to be in vogue. The one that is getting the most attention is the protesting. Putting aside the violent outbreaks that have happened within these protests, let us simply take the protests themselves at face value. Let me begin by saying this: I understand. Really, I do. I understand the anger, I understand the fear, I understand the hurt.
But here’s what I’m having a hard time with: the biggest “fruit” of this whole election has been one of division. Everywhere, division. Friends, families, communities, countries even. To which I can’t help but ask, “Is it really worth all that?” Are Trump and Clinton really worthy of all the discord we’ve suffered over them? I’d like to posit that what we need now as a country, and as citizens of that country, is unity. And on that note, I further can’t help but wonder what good comes from protesting an election that has already happened? To my mind, it serves no purpose but to continue the division, which is precisely what we don’t need right now. The cold, hard fact is that according to our method of voting, Donald Trump is the president-elect. We can move on and try to heal, or we can keep sowing seeds of division.
Having said all that, there is another camp, perhaps less obvious but very prevalent in the world of Catholic media, which celebrates the results of this election with a certain kind of triumphalism, as though we have all just won a great victory for the Pro-Life cause. Ummmmm.....really? Have we? At the very least, I think we need to wait and see. Now I certainly don’t want to mitigate the significance and weight of the abortion issue in this election, particularly for us as Catholics. However, I’m just not entirely sure that Donald Trump has presented himself in such a way that should make us as Catholics say, “Thank God, our hero has emerged victorious!” Particularly in light of the fact that there are those who are genuinely shaken by the thought of Donald Trump as president. Again, it is a question of division versus unity. Which do we actually need?
Bottom-line: I feel as though there are two fundamental truths of which this election has made us lose sight. Number One: Hate is not good. I honestly feel as though this is something we have all forgotten, myself included. We hate Trump, we hate Clinton, we hate people who support one or the other. Wait, what? Why, in heaven’s name, is that necessary? Yes, this election was significant, and yes, we should care who the president is. But are we so attached to the world of politics that we allow hate to disrupt our daily lives? It is truly amazing how sensitive and even outraged we can be at another person’s hate and yet totally blind to our own. This is the point I’m trying to make about division. We don’t need hate; we don’t need division. And yes, even as I write this, I am painfully aware of how embarrassingly cliched this sounds, but the answer can only be love. Not the overly-sentimentalized version of love which just made you sick to your stomach when I used the word. The kind that is never trite or cliched. The kind that says, “I love you even when you don’t deserve it. Even when it hurts.” The kind of love with which Christ loves us.
Which brings me to Fundamental Truth Number Two: God is in charge. Worry, fear, anxiety-none of these are fruitful. This whole Chicken Little, “the world is over!”, type of mentality is not from God and does nothing for us as a country or a Church, not to mention our own peace of mind. Our faith is not in our politicians (thank God!). Our faith is in the God Who loves us even when we don’t deserve it, even when it hurts. I think this especially bears remembering in light of the feast of Christ the King of the Universe, which we have just celebrated. Donald Trump is only the President of the United States. Jesus Christ is King of the Universe. It’s all going to be okay.
Pax Vobiscum
