Beverly's Lament: Jesus said love your enemies but he didn't know Donald Trump

Beverly's Lament

"Jesus said love your enemies,
but he didn't know Donald Trump."

Dear Pope Francis.

It’s rally time in America, and I’ve got a problem. Jesus said to love your enemies, but he didn’t know Donald Trump.

I think about Mr. Trump way too much. I can’t stand his voice or his appearance. I can’t stand what he stands for. He seems so mean-spirited and self-centered. I can’t think of a single quality he has that reminds me of Jesus.

I think it began when he belittled a handicapped journalist at a rally and bragged about grabbing women’s ______ , but it’s gotten so much worse. People tell me just to avoid television news, but that’s hard for me.

To tell you the truth, I think I’m addicted to hating him just as much as his rally-goers are addicted to worshiping him. If they are trumpaholics, I guess I’m a trumpaphobic.

Oh Pope, I know you're a Christian and I know how you think. You're a kind and peacemaking man, with a penchant for the poor and powerless. I sense that you, too, don’t like him all that much. But I’m guessing you’re not as obsessed with him as I am. Besides praying, maybe even for him, can you offer some additional advice?

Thanks, Beverly

* Note from Jay McDaniel, editor of Open Horizons. Beverly is a character in my imagination and also a voice in my head. I know many Beverlys. Maybe you do, too. I hope this page might help you claim your inner Beverly. Jay McDaniel, June 20, 2020.

Imagined Advice from Pope Francis

Accept your anger, live through it, but don't cling to it. Remember that you wouldn't feel so much pain if you were so connected with the world. Feel it but don't let it clog your spiritual arteries, such that you can't see clearly and take constructive action for the good.
Don't hate anybody. Not even Donald Trump. Remember the advice of Martin Luther King and Gandhi; hate the sin but love the sinner.
Reject the venom of Trumpism: go high not low. Reject incendiary rhetoric, hateful speech, and the rhetoric of ridicule. Its alright to hate Trumpism even as you don't hate Trump.
Renew your commitment to justice, creativity, and inclusion. See the work of the compassionate community and ecological civilizations movements, You will find support in these essays.
Keep your eye on the prize. Remember that the goal is not "winning," it is the creation of communities that are creative, compassionate, participatory, diverse, inclusive, humane to animals, ecologically wise - with no one left behind.
Take constructive action at a local level through political engagement, friendships (including people who supported Trump), a commitment to listening across divisions, and the creation of Listening Cafés. As one friend puts it: "Get active, be vocal, and stand shoulder to shoulder" with the vulnerable: minorities of color, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexuality, and political persuasion. Don't let your "constructive action" be merely conflict-avoiding passivity.
Keep your sense of humor and take full advantage, on a regular basis, of sources of joy: music, cooking, friendships, pets.
Remember the common good of the whole world. Read and re-read my Laudato Si, even if you aren't Christian. It provides the big picture and articulates the better hopes of the world, reminding you (along the way) that, after all, God is not an American.
Trust in the availability of fresh possibilities. This is just another name for "faith." You may or may not conceive the source of these possibilities in terms of a personal God, but if you do, you'll gain support from God with a Spacious Heart: An Introduction to Panentheism.
Pray everyday for everybody in the best way you can. Pray as you can, not as you can't: by gardening, jogging, listening to music, whatever, This will help them and also help clear your soul when the anger gets the best of you or block your capacities for constructive action, including listening cafes and protest.

A Vocabulary

No need for walls, just some really good enchiladas
sprinkled with red hot chili peppers.

trumpism: the culture of bigotry and hatred unleashed by the candidacy and rhetoric of Donald Trump. A kind of food poisoning. Donald Trump may suffer from it.

chili pepper sauce: energy for life, has many forms. One is a sheer love of life with all its diversity; another is anger when life is denigrated, depleted, or otherwise destroyed. Usually they go together. Jesus loved chili sauce.

prophetic chili sauce: anger without hatred, a kind of chili cause that gives clarity and energy for combating trumpism and other forms of bigotry without hating the man

miracle: managing to separate the anger from hatred of the man. Requires divine energy.

divine energy: the spirit of creative transformation at work in the world, inspiring people to seek justice for all while remembering that all people are enchiladas: a mixture of ingredients loosely rolled into a corn tortilla.

enchilada: the composite nature of each human being, composed of many influences yet gathered into one. Can never be fully contained in a stereotype such as "liberal" or "conservative."

inclusive tortilla: the embrace of God, helps people hold their lives together.

cosmic enchilada: a vast enchilada in the making, otherwise called the universe, always in process. Embraced by the deep tortilla.

bully: someone who thinks he is the center of the universe. Very confused. Wants to be flattered by all the other enchiladas. Was lonely and perhaps abused a child. Can be very mean-spirited.

justice: a quality of communities that are creative, participatory, diverse, inclusive, spiritually satisfying, and ecologically wise, with no one left behind. Martin Luther King, Jr. called them beloved communities.

mercy: remembering that all people are enchiladas. Very difficult.

the united states: a confused and divided enchilada needing some prophetic chili sauce and an intuitive sense of the inclusive tortilla. Maybe a margarita, too.

Trump Can't Be All Bad

Remember that even Trump likes music, including
Elton John and Lady Gaga -- but not as much a golf.

Donald Trump's Unexpected Thoughts on Music: BBC

"There's so much great music. For me, I'd have to say it's a toss up between Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Elton John. I never get tired of listening to them and probably never will… Any album by any of them is bound to be fantastic. "And besides that, Tony lives in one of my buildings."

Donald Trump,Think Like a Billionaire (2004)

"I heard the guest band, Toots & The Maytals, practising out on the set [of Saturday Night Live; Trump co-hosted an episode in April 2004]. They sounded terrific, and I went out to listen to them for a while. My daughter Ivanka had told me how great they were, and she was right. The music relaxed me, and surprisingly, I was not nervous."

Donald Trump,Think Like a Billionaire (2004)

Trump has name-checked Aerosmith, Elton John, Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson in the past, though he seems to think they're "terrific" as much for their personalities as their tunes. His tastes undoubtedly run right down the middle of classic rock; according to aides, Trump programs his own campaign rally playlists, which include songs such as the Stone's "Brown Sugar." His go-to campaign song, though, has been Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It," which he rocks at the end of his rallies.

-- David Browne, Rolling Stone Magazine, Feb. 1, 2016

"And by the way, I also love Eminem."

Donald Trump, Think Like a Billionaire (2004)

"I own the Miss Universe Pageant and have made it very, very successful. One day my people came to me and told me about a young woman they called Lady Gaga, who nobody had ever heard of. We put her on as the entertainer in the middle of the pageant, which is broadcast internationally. I thought, 'Wow, she is really, really good.' The next day, it was crazy. Everybody was talking about how good Lady Gaga was… Well, she became a big star and maybe she became a star because I put her on the Miss Universe Pageant. It's very possible…"She's a fantastic person, solid as a rock and I'm very proud of her success because I really believe I had at least something to do with it."

Donald Trump,Time to Get Tough (2011)

Trump was spotted at a 2006 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young concert in New York, where he was seen talking with fellow concert attendee Salman Rushdie. Afterward, he told Rolling Stone of Young, "He's got something very special. I've listened to his music for years and I've seen him before that, but I went to the concert where they were honoring Bob Dylan years ago at Madison Square Garden and Neil got up and totally brought the house down. There was nobody close. He's performed for me at my casinos over the years and he just brings it down. I've met him on occasions and he's a terrific guy. … His voice is perfect and haunting. He's 63 and I don't think it's changed." He noted he liked "the older stuff better" when it came to Young. Recently, though, Young demanded that Trump stop using "Rockin' in the Free World" at rallies, and Trump has called Young a "hypocrite" based on a meeting they had about Young's Pono music player.

-- David Browne, Rolling Stone Magazine, Feb. 1, 2016