As I write this I’m doing my best not to puke in my own mouth.
I really don’t want to say this, but I think it’s important…
I suggest we forgive the President.
He is a sick old man who is facing his demise politically and literally. For his entire term, I have wondered whether, once he was done wreaking havoc and destruction on the world, he would implode or explode. Either way, it will end badly for him.
From the beginning of his life, Trump was molded into an irretrievably damaged and dangerous force. He watched his father drive his first son to his death because he couldn’t live up to the family standards of cruelty, gluttony, and narcissism.
He has had to live under the weight of knowing, on some level, that his entire life has been fraudulent. He is not smart, he is not a great businessman, he is not well liked. (Does he have a single real friend in the world?) In fact, according to his niece Mary, he has never been able to give or receive love. Ever.
The entire illusion of his success would never even have been possible without a historically ridiculous amount of enabling from a wide variety of sources. More than anything, he is a testament to the idea that perception is reality, and his whole persona of a “powerful man” is completely dependent on an army of sycophants, cynical opportunists, and a gullible game show audience.
For 74 years he has been nothing but a vehicle for what Marianne Williamson (in the 2016 debates) called “a dark psychic force.” He never had a chance, and he never had a choice.
But NONE of that is why I propose forgiveness.
The real reason is becauseI don’t want to carry hate in my heart.
If this sounds appalling to you, I understand. And I don’t blame you for a second. Trump is an awful person who has done unbelievably awful things, and we will all be paying the price for his actions for a long time.
But, allowing myself to sink to the level of hate means I have to carry him around with me. I would have to harbor that darkness in order to constantly visit malice upon him.
He has taken a great enough toll already, and I am not willing to do more harm to myself and others on his behalf.
His only real talent was the ability to drag others down with him; to lure them into his world where making others hate feeds him. I do not wish to be involved in his world or his diet (…ok, maybe not the best word choice.)
The choice to forgive will be work. It will take time. I will have to revisit and recommit to this intention often. And, going forward, he will give me plenty of opportunities and incentive, I’m sure.
Certain days, it may help me to remember to be compassionate, to recall the circumstances that created him, and his total inability to have lived his life any differently. I will reflect on the higher role he played for me and all of us during this time of transition.
But that’s not why I will work to forgive him. It’s because I don’t think I can live with that ugliness inside me, like he has been able to.
Wish me luck…
If your spirit is prompting you to have a conversation about forgiving, I encourage you to consider working with me.