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I wanted to truly believe that Donald Trump was transformed by his horrible experience at the hands of a sick would-be assassin. I believe we all have the potential to change, especially if we have been touched by the hand of G-d. But in some ways, the depth of our transformation depends a great deal on us. I can’t help wondering if Trump’s conversion is incomplete, or has not had time to fully mature.
Don’t misunderstand: there are all kinds of explanations for our response to life’s traumatic moments. Some of us are so deeply moved that our transformation seems complete and infuses everything we do and say. Some of us try to act like nothing has happened and retreat into our psyches, trying to pretend that nothing has changed. And then there is this huge middle ocean, where most of us find ourselves, trying to figure out what our experiences mean in the greater scheme of things.
I think that is where Donald Trump finds himself. On one level, he was deeply moved by the assassination attempt, and although he credits G-d for saving his life, at a more profound level he may be trying to make sense of an experience that can’t be understood by the rational mind.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he is still trying to ascertain how he has changed, how his life has changed, how his relationship with the world has changed. We can’t fault him for that. But to expect that his transformation is complete, that he will change his relationship with the world after all these many years, is not realistic.
After hearing most of his speech (as usual, he repeated himself many times), I was disappointed at first. The beginning of his speech was moving, but gradually he slipped into his usual patterns, sans name-calling. I realize he needed to remind people of his many accomplishments during his first term. But he just couldn’t let go, this one time, of the 2020 election. I felt sad.
I think we will need to give Trump time to absorb his experience and to emerge from the trauma with healing. I think he is still in shock, still trying to “make meaning” of his tragic encounter, and will move back and forth: at times, he will let us see the Trump who was changed by divine intervention; at other times, the angry Trump will show his face.
Let’s just be grateful that he is alive, and allow ample time for his healing to continue and for the pain to subside.
May G-d provide a healing hand.
Discussion (130)
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I’ve often heard the expression that God draws straight with crooked lines. He certainly has a crooked line with Donald John Trump. I pray Trump can find some humility in all of this and that he takes hold of God’s healing hand.
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We are all flawed. You would say we are all sinners. Either way, it is up to us whether we mature and grow, and whether we seek G-d's help. Thanks, Scott.
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I am cutting Trump a lot of slack this week on this.
I had a ruptured spleen about twelve years ago. Just as Trump feels at this moment, I really shouldn't be here. I had six pints of transfused blood--that gives you some idea of how bad it was--the human body is circulating only about six pints of blood usually. I had an incredible surgeon and ER doctors, and it's amazing I'm still here.
What was really hard to process was the outpouring of love from family and friends I received in the days following the surgery. I've never experienced anything like it.
When I saw him last night with his family and I listened to some of the emotional speeches people made about being glad he survived because he meant so much to them, I could see on his face that it was hard for him to process. I didn't listen to the speech. I knew it would be very emotional.
I'm going to give him a couple of weeks to settle back down. :) :)
Love coming at us unexpectedly can be very hard to accept and process.
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I'm okay with that. They did him dirty then. He did what he was supposed to. Expanded his base, increased his turnout from four years before, and somehow 81 million votes were magicked up for a corpse in a basement. Then, it wasn't good enough to let Trump go away. He had to be destroyed. They've tried every trick in the book to get rid of him, culminating in an assassination attempt on Saturday. Where would the country be if the Dems hadn't stolen the election and Trump would be finishing his second term now?
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Isn't that the truth! I think I was naive to expect a bigger change, Marci, and I'm prepared to sit back and watch for a while.
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