Loving My President - Day 2

I’ve been re-reading “The Strength to Love”, by King Martin (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for long). I keep waiting for him to say something about strategies for planning civil disobedience or active non-violent resistance (or something dangerous sounding like that) but instead he just keeps talking about loving my enemies. For some reason his talk of loving my enemies does not sound dangerous enough. What sounds dangerous is going out in the streets and fighting them (… non-violently, of course).

But this rhetoric of love sounds especially potent coming from King Martin. First because I know he’s quoting Jesus and second I know how both of these men died - at the hands of their enemies! That’s dangerous enough for me. So, I’m listening… carefully actually. How do you love the people who actively hate and violently abuse you? I really don’t know. But I’m determined to find out.

It’s all backwards don’t you think? Shouldn’t we start loving the people we already love just a little bit better and then try loving the people we sort of like and then, finally, try loving the people we hate (or who hate us)? Baby-steps! But, I think maybe if we did that we’d never get around to loving the people we hate. We’d always have a little more work to do loving the people we already love just a little bit better - the best kind of excuse.

So, because these are fabulous men who've suggested this crazy idea, I thought I’d give it a try and see what happens. I think I’ll start with President Bush. (What’s more dangerous than that?) I’m starting on Day 2 not because I’ve already started loving him but because Day 1 was already written by Anne LaMott in her book "Plan B" (and because the first day of any diet is always the hardest).

I don’t know how to actively love a man I’m not in the same room with… so… I think I’ll pray for him. I don’t pray for very many things (or people). I usually just ask God for love and wisdom. So, I'll include him in my meager prayers. And you never know, it may actually do some good in the world. Minimally, I'm sure it will do some good in me.

This mental exercise starts now…

“God if you can tame this violent and power-hungry man - please do! May he see the folly of his ways and spend the rest of his life serving the poor populations that he has created.”


(Okay, so my prayers might get more ‘loving’ as I go - maybe by Day 102 – but it's good enough for now.)