Winners and Losers

All my presidents have something in common.

Winners and losers

Something in common.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, America’s 32nd president, was my first. Then came Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and finally, Barak Obama.

I voted for some of them, but not all. Still, all of them have been my president. I agreed with some of them, even liked some of them, but not all. Yet they were all my presidents. Some were Democrats. Some were Republicans. Some were better presidents than others. But they all have had one thing in common.

Without exception, all my presidents have been flawed human beings.

Which brings me to the man about to become the nation’s 45th president, and my 14th. Mr. Donald John Trump. Like all the others named above, he is about to become my president. And like every one of those preceding him, he has one thing clearly in common.

He is a flawed human being.

If you did not vote for Mr. Trump, take heart. Lots of us did not. But lots of us did. Some are frightened. Some are angry. Some want to toss the Electoral College (but would likely feel very different about it if Mrs. Clinton had won). Some carry signs declaring “Trump is not my president.”

But he is.

Does anyone care about being a “good loser?”

Leo Durocher, 1994 Baseball Hall of Fame,” winner of over 2000 games as a manager of five major league teams, was reputed to have said, “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you an idiot.”

Former president, Richard M. Nixon, offered a more sage perspective by putting it this way. “You must never be satisfied with losing. You must get angry, terribly angry, about losing. But the mark of the good loser is that he takes his anger out on himself and not his victorious opponents or on his teammates.”

Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a Christian voice for social justice with strong appeal among politically moderate to left-wing followers of Jesus (yes, as difficult as it may seem Trump fans, there are Christians who did vote for Hillary), wrote on November 20, 2016, “Both fear and anger are deep in America now, especially among people who belong to groups who were targeted and maligned during the election campaign. They wonder if the America President-elect Trump wants to make ‘great again’ includes them.”

And if you are quick to label Wallis’ comments to be those of a ‘poor loser,’ there is more. He rejoins, “White people who dismiss the real fears parents of color have for their children reveal how disconnected they are from those families. We know you are fearful. But we also know you are ready to resist.”

Politics and the communion table.

Wallis makes a good point. It is clear that the deeply troubled whom he references do not intend to be among Leo Durocher’s “good losers.” So ask yourself this question. Just how do followers of Jesus who

voted for Donald Trump to be our next president share the communion table (or any table for that matter) with Electoral College haters now in abject despair over a loss felt on so many levels?

Great answers to divisive emotions sometimes come from unlikely voices. I think sportscaster Ernie Johnson (who did not vote for Mr. Trump) was that kind of voice recently when he and his TV colleagues were asked to share their feelings about the recent election. He said, “I know you’re not supposed to talk about politics and religion but we’re already talking about politics so I’m gonna go the ‘R’ direction, too.

“I never know from one election to the next who’s gonna be in the Oval Office, but I always know who’s on the throne. And I’m on this earth because God created me, and that’s who I answer to. I’m a Christian. I follow a guy named Jesus, you might have heard of him. And the greatest commandment he gave me was to love others.

“Scripture also tells us to pray for our leaders, and that’s what I’m gonna do: I’m gonna pray for Donald Trump, I’m gonna pray for all those people right now who feel like they’re on the outside looking in, who are afraid at this point. I’ll pray for them, too. In short, I’m praying for America, and I’m praying that one day we’re gonna look back and we’re gonna say: ‘You know what? That Donald Trump presidency? That was all right.’ But I’m praying.”

According to Turner Sports PR, the clip, between the NBA on TNT’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, had 95 million social media impressions and 16 million video views. That’s the most social engagement any NBA on TNT segment has ever had.

“I didn’t do this with the intention of getting response on social media,” Johnson said subsequently in an interview. “All we were doing was what everyone in this country was doing, processing this election. And the way I processed this election, because it is who I am, I had to include my spiritual take on this. That’s what’s given me perspective on this. I believe whoever is in the White House, God is in charge. That’s me. And I voiced that on TV.”

So this is what Jesus followers do.

Too simplistic? Maybe. Maybe not. We will, Mr. Wallis, all of us, remain alert and active with you as citizens of these great United States, whoever it was we voted for. And yes, Mr. Johnson, we will join you in praying for America and for our soon-to-be 45th president (and my 14th), Donald John Trump. This is what Jesus followers do.

“Arise, O God, defend your cause” ~ Psalm 74:22. God bless these United States of America!

I want to thank you for the growing number of responses to my Perspective blogs. I especially enjoyed this from Guy Worsham of Humble, TX, who wrote: “Thank you Sir! I am 86, was born in the church, been to AG church all my life and also been to a wild-cow milking, a mule-pule, several state fairs, one hog-calling and who knows what-all else. But today I discovered the definition of “The Green Room” (referring to a recent blog). Keep-em coming! Happy New Year! Naomi and I send our love …”

Love you, Guy and Naomi, and all of you who read and on occasion take time to write in. Keep-em coming!