This post is written for those who, like me, were devastated by Donald Trump’s election victory last week. (It is a very personal post, and I’m sorry if it’s a little preachy – I am preaching to myself too!)

Friends in the US carry the greatest pain, but those of us outside the country will also be affected.

It hurts us to think that:

• Reducing the disastrous impacts of climate change will be set back by a President who says it is a hoax. The generations we and he leave behind will suffer in the decades ahead.
• As Jim Wallis wrote: “a leader who exemplifies and ran on the worst of us: fear, anger, bigotry, lies, and immorality (actually amorality) won decisively.”
• Immigrant people have been vilified and now feel terribly threatened. (Yet everyone except Native Americans are immigants, ultimately.)
• Great numbers of people who identify as Christians have supported non-Chrstian policies based on dishonesty, hate, violence and disregard for the poor and weak.
• Pseudo-Christian nationalism and white supremacy have been embraced by many.

Authoritarian, nationalistic, racist and oppressive regimes have too often been the norm in history, and seem to be on the rise again after a century of increasing equality (in first world countries at least). Many Christians fear that this election will only add impetus to these dark forces.

And so, many Christians (including personal friends in the US) are angry and fearful, some for themselves, but also for those in minority groups who are more likely to be targeted.

A Christian response?

Most people’s initial response is probably confusion, despair, fear. Lydia Wylie-Kellermann: “Beloveds, there are no words. Shock. Rage. Grief.”

But what next?

I’ve seen some organisations already asking for donations and support, as they look for ways to protect the vulnerable and resist oppression.

For example, Avaaz asked for donations, saying: “We have less than 60 days until he becomes president — we must act now to prepare.”

But mostly I’ve seen people saying we shouldn’t react too quickly. We should grieve, rest, reflect, lament and pray.

• Matthias Roberts: “I just hope people will allow themselves to feel all the grief and anger and despair they have within themselves. Connecting to our bodies, to our humanness, feels more important than ever right now.”
• Lydia Wylie-Kellermann: “Today, let our bodies melt into the earth. Let us weep and welcome silence. Let us wrap our arms around our children and sleep when we can”.
• Jim Wallis: “Allow yourselves to grieve ….. Grief is better and deeper than despair…. Rest. Take the time to sleep and be quiet. Go for a walk, or do some exercise…. Reach out to people that you love and who love you…. Tell your loved ones that you love them–and need their love right now.”

Whatever we decide ….

…. I believe those of us who want to live according to Jesus’ teachings (as much as we can) must prepare ourselves to endure difficult times.

It won’t be the first time. Christianity started and thrived in the midst of the oppressive Roman Empire. The rich and powerful who generally dominate are not often Christian in belief and behaviour, and Christians in the past have learnt to live in this reality.

We must be prepared to follow Jesus in what may be an increasingly oppressive and divided world.

And perhaps we will find ourselves in a compromised and divided church.

Living in the opposite spirit

Jesus has given us some clear instruction for how his disciples must try to live:

• If we see the world, the government or even the church showing hatred, we must show love (Luke 10:27, 1 Corinthians 13).
• If people around us are vengeful, we must be forgiving (Matthew 6:14-15).
• If the President or anyone else is untruthful, we must strive even harder to be truthful (Ephesians 4:15).
• If people treat us as enemies, we must pray for them (Matthew 5:44), not treat them as enemies too.
• If others mock those who they disagree with, or those wqho they think are inferior, we should treat people with respect (1 Timothy 3:15).

We can sum it up in the words of the famous prayer of St Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Continuing to be faithful

Living according to Jesus’ teachings doesn’t mean we give in and don’t resist evil. But it does give us guidance in how to do it.

We have been given a mission to love our neighbour (Matthew 22:39). And Jesus makes it clear that this includes the hungry, strangers, the destitute, the sick and prisoners (Matthew 25:31-6). When governments oppose these teachings, we have little choice but to continue to do what we can.

But we will resist in a loving and non-violent way, recognising that we cannot hate and must avoid being enemies. Gandhi, Mandela, Martin Luther King and many others have shown us the way this can be done.

Christian solidarity

Let’s draw together. Those of us who believe in Jesus’ way of living can support each other tenderly during these difficult days and years.

Let’s continue to reach out to each other, support each other, pray for each other.

Main photo by Pixabay. Other photos (in order) by David Garrison and cottonbro studio.

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