we are in the midst of another presidential race in this country. we watch as donald trump blusters through his rallies and court appearances, spewing venom and encouraging his followers to hate as he hates. it is easy to sit on my moral high horse and look down with contempt on him and his supporters. that is not what a follower of jesus and of the buddha should be doing. each day i say, "may i develop the perfect understanding, may i be filled with lovingkindness and compassion," then i refuse to have those qualities for some people.
this morning, i'm thinking about how to develop understanding, lovingkindness, and compassion for donald trump and those who support him. i want to see them as human beings with whom i have more in common than i admit. i want to be accepting of them without embracing their ideology, to love them even when they seem to be filled with anger and hatred. i have no right to pat myself on the back for my virtues when my heart is filled with contempt for them.
i need to consider what may have happened in the lives of those who are so filled with anger toward others, to seek to understand how they have come to embrace this bitterness and sense of victimhood. as the song from the musical, "the king and i," says, "before you are six or seven or eight, you've got to be taught to hate all the people your relatives hate." the prejudices and bigotry that has come to expression in the maga crowd are inherited from past generations. only the will to look at the world differently can change these vile patterns.
may we turn from those inherited ways of thinking and seeing others. may we have compassion and love rather than hatred and condemnation. may we see the humanity in all those around us, even those who do not see our humanity. shalom.
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