The Harried Mystic

.. the fact that something or someone seems to be everywhere.

Cambridge Dictionary

This is the principal ingredient in the secret sauce that keeps Trumpism alive. Repetition confers the illusion of validity to the inflammatory memes people internalize.

Malignant narcissists are masters of giving truth to lies ( lying so boldly and incessantly that their veracity comes to appear self-evident). Donald Trump commits crimes in plain sight and wraps it in a rhetoric of American virtue. He works hard at only one thing – to be perpetually in the news. Whether negative or otherwise, all press is good press to one like Donald who needs, above all things, to be at the center of the National conversation. This is a lesson for those of us committed to truth and the exercise of authentic leadership.

How can we constructively apply this lesson in practice?

Trumpism needs to be buried under an avalanche of truth-telling. All available and able voices need to join the choir. There is no such thing as over-communicating. There needs to be a detailed strategy and a vigorous storytelling engine for truth telling and a celebration of democracy that commands attention.

From where I sit, Biden needs a Communication Czar who can manage social media content and all vehicles for outreach. This needs to be so much more than a Press Secretary. It should be a cabinet position. In our times, the dark web is a factor that needs to be part of the strategic response to conspiracy theories and counterbalance to false narratives designed to confuse, misdirect and contort the truth.

Over this holiday season, I am embracing the spiritual exercise of being explicit about what I believe and why. Even more importantly, it is the right season for an Examen of consciousness focused on how my beliefs affect my listening. Doing so provides a potent spiritual inoculation against viral messaging untethered from the facts.

May your season be illuminated by the real and the true.

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