The Harried Mystic

Blessed are they who make peace, for they will be called the children of God.

Matthew 5:9

We tend to recall the true value of things when we are faced with the threat of their loss. This is what many are experiencing about our once assumed democracy.

The Trump years have revealed a persistent cultural malignancy. Five years of hate-soaked rhetoric and callous disregard for the dignity of persons has reawakened the “shadow”of the Nation. The fragility of the American democratic experiment has been fully exposed. We find ourselves on perilously thin ice.

The Executive Branch and the Senate have been complicit in the raw pursuit of power for power’s sake. Servant leadership has been totally eclipsed by a cruel distemper. We have been witness to the elevation of a latter day “ democratic autocrat,” a replay of the norm-bashing history of Andrew Jackson.

Wrapped in a perverse American Nationalism, Trump’s dark poison awakened a perennial plague. It is a recessive cancer that only needs a big pulpit for a celebrity voice ready to fan the fears of disaffected people. It has once again resurrected the love affair with the idea of the “ elective monarch” that our founders worried about and warned against.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are President and Vice President Elect. Providentially, this sets the stage for a desperately needed correction in the National spirit, a treatment for the cancer. That said, we will hopefully enjoy a season of true remission. But remission does not eliminate the malignancy which can, and likely will, resurface.

The sociopolitical disease has progressed significantly: a virtual stage 4 scenario. We need to watch for the face of the cancer and address it swiftly and with unflinching fervor when it appears. As citizens and patriots, we need to make our voices heard over the unhinged irrational worship of alternative reality.

The Holiday season is a time set aside for the celebration of the light. As a Franciscan, I am called to pursue the way of peace, to seek the best in everyone. We are admonished by our founder to embrace all of our brothers and sisters and to be healers.

How do we heal the cancer of Trumpism and the allure of autocracy (which is clearly alive and well in our Nation despite Trump’s decisive defeat)?

Peacemaking is so much more than a Hallmark card sentiment. It is the antithesis of looking away, ignoring misbehavior, or pretending that there is no lasting illness. It is not merely a neurotic need to just “ smooth things over”. Denial and appeasement are enablers that make more room for the spread of the disease. What we must do is name the “ beast” when we see it (a gift arising from a mature discernment of the spirits).

In caring for souls in fraternal and sororal solidarity, our task is fourfold: (1) a duty to care (enough to directly and proactively engage the darkness); (2) diagnose/ discern where thought and behavior are misguided, unbecoming and inappropriate; (3) act in the service of greater goodness and the protection of innocence; and (4) decisively and affirmatively shun those who eschew personal accountability.

Let’s not forget that Jesus had no hesitation in calling out Pharisees and Sadducees ( learned men of the Temple) as “ hypocrites” and “ vipers”. In offering these thoughts, I also reflect on the counsel of St. Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians:

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.

2 Thessalonians 3:6

Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.

2 Thessalonians 3:14

Trumpism unfortunately appears to know no shame. Like all things evil, it awaits a next shot at ascendency. Those afflicted must be held relentlessly accountable.

The Republican Party has been completely overcome by the spirit of Trumpism. It is wholly corrupted and morally bankrupt. Conservative men and women of good conscience will likely need to form an alternate party in accepting the reality that, after Trump, the once great party of Lincoln is dead.

Saying nothing, doing nothing and just hoping that Trumpism will settle down after the inauguration of a new Administration would be a dangerous and naive complacency. This is especially so when the evil being perpetrated is powered by an unabashed narcissism and greed.

Women and men of peace have equanimity and comity as their goals. Achieving both demands watchfulness for the reappearance of the many-headed hydra of the lesser angels of our nature.

Let us each commit to keeping watch with implacable dedication and keen attention.

© The Harried Mystic, 2020 and Br. Anton, TSSF. and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.