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| Betendes Mädchen (Praying Woman) by Käthe Schmidt Kollwitz (1867–1945) |
A few weeks ago a close friend asked me "Do you think we should pray for Donald Trump?" I answered, "Yes, I suppose we should." But this exchange left me thinking hard about how we should pray.
Let me offer some reflections on the nature of Christian praying, quote a number of prayers for our President, and share some thoughts about fault finding, human dignity, and demonic risk.
Praying: Conditional and Normative
My thinking about Christian praying has been significantly influenced by Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834)—German pastor, biblical scholar, theologian, philosopher, and political activist. He writes that when Christians pray "in the name of Jesus" we should understand this to mean praying "in the sense and spirit of Jesus," praying about "the concerns of Jesus." Too often, he writes, we tend to pray for divine alterations of future conditions, seeking to "exert an influence on God."^1
Schleiermacher names these different modes of praying "normative" and "conditional." Normative praying seeks to align our concerns with norms established by Christ's life and teachings. In contrast, conditional prayer seeks to "deflect" God's will according to conditions we request.
Schleiermacher grants that it is natural for our prayers to express our deepest, most personal hopes and concerns. At the same time, in our praying we should seek to align our concerns more fully with those of Christ.
If our prayers are answered, Schleiermacher suggests, our appropriate response is gratitude: Thanks be to God. If our prayers are not answered, our appropriate response is acceptance: Amen (So be it). Both outcomes may give us occasion to grow in understanding our faith, to learn more about making Christ's norms our own.^2
I think that the biblical touchstone here is Christ's passionate praying in the Garden of Gethsemane shortly before his arrest and crucifixion:
Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done. (Luke 22:42; also Matthew 26:39, Mark 14: 36)
Model Prayers
Where else may we find model prayers?
Many spiritual traditions provide examples. I have found model prayers particularly in The Book of Common Prayer (BCP)—the Episcopal volume that contains "the regular services appointed for public worship." Or more fairly, BCP prayers have found me.
In Episcopal worship our congregations regularly pray for our President, as also for other governing authorities:
[Officiant:] That it may please thee so to rule the hearts of thy servants, the President of the United States, and all others in authority, that they may do justice, and love mercy, and walk in the ways of truth,
[Congregation:] We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. (BCP p.150)
Numerous BCP prayers offer similar touchstones:
O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that, being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of this State (or Commonwealth), and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God world without end. Amen. (BCP p.820)
The providential norms named here are security, peace, wisdom, strength, truth, righteousness, and service.
Another prayer broadens its scope to include international leaders and authorities as well as our nation's President:
Another prayer broadens its scope to include international leaders and authorities as well as our nation's President:
For our President, for the leaders of the nations, and for all in authority, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy. (BCP p.384)
The BCP sometimes directs that the President be called by name (see "for N." below), and some prayers name specific national and international institutions:
Let us pray for all nations and peoples of the earth, and for those in authority among them; for N., the President of the United States; for the Congress and the Supreme Court; for the Members and Representatives of the United Nations; for all who serve the common good: that by God's help they may seek justice and truth, and live in peace and concord. (BCP p.278)
The norms here: serving the common good; seeking justice and truth; living in peace and concord.
Another prayer specifies the President, members of his Cabinet, Governors, Mayors, and other national authorities:
O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth.
Lord, keep this nation under your care.
To the President and members of the Cabinet, to Governors of States, Mayors of Cities, and to all in administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord. (BCP, p.821)
Here the norms are domestic peace, being a blessing to other nations, and wisdom and grace in the exercise of duties.
Finding Fault
Finding Fault
Does praying for our President and others in authority rule out criticizing them?
I would say by no means. Affronts to norms that we express in our praying are sound bases for finding fault—whether the affronts are the President's or our own.
Surely we may find fault with President Trump when we compare his conduct with norms expressed in the BCP prayers we have considered: justice, mercy, truth, wisdom, righteousness, service, the common good, domestic peace, blessing to other nations, grace in the exercise of duties.
I would say by no means. Affronts to norms that we express in our praying are sound bases for finding fault—whether the affronts are the President's or our own.
Surely we may find fault with President Trump when we compare his conduct with norms expressed in the BCP prayers we have considered: justice, mercy, truth, wisdom, righteousness, service, the common good, domestic peace, blessing to other nations, grace in the exercise of duties.
What is more, Christian norms expressed in the BCP prayers are neither all-inclusive nor exclusive. I believe that when finding fault we should be guided not only by religious norms but also by constitutional law, and by civic norms for basic decency such as these:
- To contend without being contentious
- To disagree without being disagreeable
- To object without being objectionable
- To make judgments without being judgmental
- To act zealously without becoming a zealot
- To seek certainty without claiming certitude
- To seek wisdom without claiming to be wise
- To feel righteous indignation without becoming self-righteous
Christian, constitutional, and civic norms are tight ropes to walk, but I believe that with resolve our nation can do better than we're currently doing.
Human Dignity
Again I find guidance in the Book of Common Prayer. In the Episcopal baptismal service the entire congregation joins parents and godparents in affirming "The Baptismal Covenant." The concluding sentences of the covenant are these:
Celebrant: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
People: I will, with God's help. (BCP p.305)
Scores of times, over many years, I have recited that pledge to respect the dignity of every human being. Now I need to abide by it.
In my view, all too many of President Trump's decisions and actions and attitudes deserve criticism. I believe that he is gravely damaging "justice and peace among all people." I shall oppose and try to counteract him in whatever ways I am able. But I shall try my best to remember that I am criticizing a person, and that Trump supporters are persons also.
Another friend has asked, "Should we pray, at least in private, that Donald Trump will be defeated in this fall's bid for re-election?"
To me this seems uncomfortably close to conditional praying (indeed, to magic). Yet President Trump's evident thoughtlessness in relation to moral norms gives urgency to our prayers. That our President might "do justice, and love mercy, and walk in the ways of truth" is certainly a prayer—whether normative or conditional— to which I can respond: "We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord."
Beseeching prayer, however, obliges me to take action in ways that I believe will protect and advance moral norms: communicating with members of Congress; working to unseat the President together with selected members of Congress; supporting principled political and charitable organizations; voting conscientiously.
I have compared following moral norms to walking a tight rope. I would say that deliberating about actions and performing them feels more like juggling.
Another friend has asked, "Should we pray, at least in private, that Donald Trump will be defeated in this fall's bid for re-election?"
To me this seems uncomfortably close to conditional praying (indeed, to magic). Yet President Trump's evident thoughtlessness in relation to moral norms gives urgency to our prayers. That our President might "do justice, and love mercy, and walk in the ways of truth" is certainly a prayer—whether normative or conditional— to which I can respond: "We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord."
Beseeching prayer, however, obliges me to take action in ways that I believe will protect and advance moral norms: communicating with members of Congress; working to unseat the President together with selected members of Congress; supporting principled political and charitable organizations; voting conscientiously.
I have compared following moral norms to walking a tight rope. I would say that deliberating about actions and performing them feels more like juggling.
Throughout, I shall try my best to respect President Trump as a person, a fellow human being, in accordance with this prayer—printed in The Book of Common Prayer with an underlined blank space that invites specific, up-to-date naming:
Again this seems a conditional prayer asking God for magic, but I'm unable to suppress a sincere Amen.
Once more from a friend, a final, trenchant question: Might respect for our President as a person blind us to the emergence of the demonic?
My answer is yes, this can certainly be the case.
History gives all too many instances of once-respected leaders who have proved to be demonic. Once a culture becomes possessed, as with Soviet Communism and Nazism, the demonic becomes a black hole. Moral norms, constitutional law, civility, respect for personhood—all are sucked into the vortex and annihilated. It is too late.
So the key word in my friend's question is "emergence." We must not be blind to demonic emergence.
Historically, the first stage in demonic emergence is erasure of the difference between true and false, dismissal of any distinction between fact and fiction.^4 As President Trump is insensible to moral norms, so he is to truth.^5
My motivation for saying this is not disrespect for President Trump but alarm for our nation—alarm that so many Senators, Representatives, Cabinet members, White House staff, media commentators and fellow citizens share our President's obliviousness and continue to support him.
We must name emerging signs and symptoms of the demonic for what they are, devising measures to isolate the contagion, strengthening public resistance, seeking societal cures, administering national healing, bolstering each other against despair and cynicism—doing what we already know to do, but with intensified watchfulness and commitment.
We must nourish our nation's concern for moral norms and truth— clarifying them in our praying, enacting them in our living, always balancing and juggling. Surely it is fitting to pray "May it never come to pass," but only if we take action to resist demonic emergence.
And we must ever pray for our own personhood:
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^1 All Schleiermacher quotations are from his The Christian Faith (Der Christliche Glaube), Sections 146 and 147.
^2 The most concentrated presentations of Christ's norms are found in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) and Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20–49).
^3 Interview on MSNBC, July 18, 2018 < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsgccOuZ0qg&t=588s > at 2.13–17 and 4.7–10.
^4 I recommend the brilliant and disturbing book by Michiko Kakutani, The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump (Tim Duggan Books, 2018). My thanks to Dr. Keller Freeman for acquainting me with Kakutani's book.
^5 See Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo, and Meg Kelley, Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth (Scribner, 2020).
For those in positions of public trust, especially Donald, that they may serve justice and promote the dignity and freedom of every person, we pray to you, O Lord. (BCP p.550)
Again this seems a conditional prayer asking God for magic, but I'm unable to suppress a sincere Amen.
Demonic Risk
Once more from a friend, a final, trenchant question: Might respect for our President as a person blind us to the emergence of the demonic?
My answer is yes, this can certainly be the case.
History gives all too many instances of once-respected leaders who have proved to be demonic. Once a culture becomes possessed, as with Soviet Communism and Nazism, the demonic becomes a black hole. Moral norms, constitutional law, civility, respect for personhood—all are sucked into the vortex and annihilated. It is too late.
So the key word in my friend's question is "emergence." We must not be blind to demonic emergence.
Historically, the first stage in demonic emergence is erasure of the difference between true and false, dismissal of any distinction between fact and fiction.^4 As President Trump is insensible to moral norms, so he is to truth.^5
My motivation for saying this is not disrespect for President Trump but alarm for our nation—alarm that so many Senators, Representatives, Cabinet members, White House staff, media commentators and fellow citizens share our President's obliviousness and continue to support him.
We must name emerging signs and symptoms of the demonic for what they are, devising measures to isolate the contagion, strengthening public resistance, seeking societal cures, administering national healing, bolstering each other against despair and cynicism—doing what we already know to do, but with intensified watchfulness and commitment.
We must nourish our nation's concern for moral norms and truth— clarifying them in our praying, enacting them in our living, always balancing and juggling. Surely it is fitting to pray "May it never come to pass," but only if we take action to resist demonic emergence.
And we must ever pray for our own personhood:
O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them. Amen. (BCP, p.229)
_______________
^1 All Schleiermacher quotations are from his The Christian Faith (Der Christliche Glaube), Sections 146 and 147.
^2 The most concentrated presentations of Christ's norms are found in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) and Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20–49).
^3 Interview on MSNBC, July 18, 2018 < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsgccOuZ0qg&t=588s > at 2.13–17 and 4.7–10.
^4 I recommend the brilliant and disturbing book by Michiko Kakutani, The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump (Tim Duggan Books, 2018). My thanks to Dr. Keller Freeman for acquainting me with Kakutani's book.
^5 See Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo, and Meg Kelley, Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth (Scribner, 2020).
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