Breath of fresh air not withstanding, an opportunity will be missed if Trump’s eviction from his rental on Pennsylvania Ave is considered simply the end of a national nightmare.
Perhaps the keystone of Trump’s legacy is the revelation of just how ill we Americans are collectively, and have always been. Or, perhaps more precisely, how young humankind is in its spiritual evolution, and how that immaturity expresses itself in the particular dynamic of our nation.
Ill isn’t all we are, of course. Kinship is the compass of those many who enliven the only greatness that matters in this or any nation––and is evident in countless ways. Still, the beauty of our national character is deformed by an addiction to denial. Its consequences are ravaging.
Genocide, slavery and their energetic offspring, rooted in the insanity of superiority, a repudiation of the sacredness of existence, comprise a pervasive cancer in the body of America––indeed, the body of the human family. A cancer that doesn’t go unnoticed by the law of Karma.
Is there any horror, any painful reminder to pay attention, we as a nation have not earned?
Until our collective focus toward creating “a more perfect union” honors the fullness of choices that shape who we are––and thus who we are committed to being––the wake-up call of abuse will get only more intense.
Until we embrace and make an active part of our life the savagery of our historic juvenile notion that there is an us and a them, the universe will continue to raise the pain of our denial.
I ask myself: Of the virtues I hold sacred and wish that my children and their children would consider as they define their world, which of them might Trump be a worthy role model? My answer is none. Compassion, kindness, humor, forgiveness, generosity, acceptance…. Zip.
In this, Trump is a valuable teacher, worthy of respect. The same way a tornado is worthy of respect.
The most valuable lesson of Trump is that––revere him or otherwise––he is not responsible for how we feel about him. He, like every other person we will ever meet, or every situation we will ever encounter, is merely a mirror showing us ourselves––how we define reality.
Since its inception, America’s definition of reality has led to the brutalization of our earth, our fellows, ourselves. As I say, that’s not all we’ve been doing, just like, for most of us, every dream isn’t a nightmare.
The legacy of Trump is that he has helped illuminate the collective nightmare that has always been part of us.
And with his eviction from our nation’s symbolic home, a home built with the help of slave labor, that revelation can be the foundation upon which meaningful, healing acton can continue with renewed understanding and vigor.
Masterfully said. Thank you.
When I saw this, I said of course, Steve will help put this into perspective and indeed you have. I suggest we all need a time out to reflect what our role has been in the Trump tornado.
Yes.
Yes…this is a good time to breathe a collective sigh of relief that Trump is gone…but not to be smug and think that good has banished evil and we can blithely return to the facade of America the good. 70M people voted for Trump! Trump is a symptom of far greater problem that must resisted more than ever.