My prayer for Donald Trump — and the rest of us

For four years, I followed that often-preached prescription to pray for those in positions of public trust. Thus, I prayed seemingly Sunday after Sunday that Trump would have the wisdom and discernment to faithfully carry out the duties of the president of the United States. I firmly believe that God answers prayers. But, as I’ve come to realize, it’s done in God’s way and in God’s own time.

Because for four years, the same Trump who brutally savaged his opponents in the 2016 Republican primaries went on to bully, ridicule, threaten and lie during his presidency. My prayers were not answered, at least not in accordance with my desires and timetable.

Yes, we prayed for a wise and just leader. Even as we had on our hands a president who craved adulation and lived to vanquish opponents and whose single-minded focus was on himself. Four years of praying about and living with an arrogant, loudmouthed, lightweight president and his insufferable grandiosity.

Nothing about Trump has changed since his eviction from the White House by the 2020 voters. He continues to polarize the country, sowing bitterness, division and fear. And armed with his dreadful narcissism, Trump seems to be beyond anyone’s counsel.

Thus, here we are once again, confronted with the reality that Trump is going all out to regain access to the Oval Office — America’s pinnacle of civil authority.

My thoughts return to the theme of Washington National Cathedral’s forum, “With Malice Toward None, With Charity for All: Reclaiming Civility in American Politics.” How does the nation spend the next three months until Election Day?

At the beginning of the forum, cathedral Dean Randy Hollerith said, “I can think of few topics more important than civility and the need for civil discourse in order for our democracy to thrive.” And he set a high bar. He said the focus of the cathedral’s programs is to “remind people that even our worst enemies, political or otherwise, are the beloved children of God and should be treated as such.”

Keeping that in mind as we encounter Trump on the campaign trail is asking a lot. But it is the correct challenge. The presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, in response to Trump’s reach for the jugular, shouldn’t go low. It shouldn’t give in to contempt and hate or speak about Trump and his supporters in dehumanizing ways. The Harris team should be bent on bringing civility to this election year. They should lean into the healing of this country, not tearing it apart.

That is my election year prayer. Oh, yes, and I fervently pray that Donald Trump gets help.