On most days, it’s difficult to see anything but the problems of the world: wars, poverty, a heating planet, democracy in decline. Nothing seems to be as it should be, and things are getting worse. In my personal life, though, things are mostly going well. Things seem to be more or less as they should be. I have good health. I’m getting by financially. I love my living space. I have good friends. I have writing as a creative outlet. Things could be better but they also could be a lot worse. 

Looking back on my life, though, things weren’t always as I wanted them to be. I went through a painful divorce. I got fired from two different jobs. I tested positive for HIV. I was stabbed in the throat while traveling in South America. In the end, however, each of those things ended with a positive outcome. My divorce provided space for both my wife and I to have more fulfilling lives. Testing positive for HIV made me more careful in my sex life. Getting fired pushed me to find work that was better aligned with who I was. Getting stabbed in Argentina pushed me to be more aware as a traveler. 

Each of these perceived negatives ended up being a positive, showing me that after the initial pain, things could turn out well. And even if any of them hadn’t worked out well for me, they might have served another purpose, helping someone else, for example.   

But now Trump! He seems to be against everything I’ve always believed in: honesty and integrity, respect for others, equal opportunity, fairness. I really wish he’d just go away. But that’s probably not going to happen anytime soon.

However, maybe the election turned out as it should. Maybe I don’t have a big enough perspective to see things clearly. The future is a mystery. Regardless of how much I want to figure things out, in the end, I can’t know how things should be. All I can do is be with what is, respond as best I can, and be open to positive possibilities.  

Some say Trump is evil, an egocentric jerk with little or no goodness, no redeeming values, and no essential value. I have to admit I’m inclined to agree. But also, some say that evil is the absence of love and if that’s true, empathy may be a more appropriate response. I’m not a Christian but from what I understand, Jesus taught us to love our enemies. 

As I understand it, Donald Trump had a difficult upbringing. He wasn’t favored by his father and, therefore, probably didn’t feel much love. Maybe that’s what he needs. But what a stretch it would be, for me to feel love for Donald Trump. At first blush, the idea sounds preposterous. From another perspective, though, maybe learning to love him would be on point. What might happen if he actually felt that he was loved? How might that change him and how might that change us? Wouldn’t that bring us closer to how things should be?

So what are our options? We can rally against Trump and all he stands for, increasing hate and animosity.  We can put our heads in the sand and give up. Or we can resist when we need to and look for positive possibilities in the meantime. 

Caught in the negative moment, it’s difficult to see the big picture, as if we could really see the big picture anyway. We don’t know how things “should be.” All we can do is try to hold our centers through the chaos and respond accordingly. As the refrain on a current popular song goes, “All is not okay but we’re all going to be alright.” 

Homework: Explore how love works in your life. Where is it easy to love and where is it difficult? And the more difficult question, “How would your inner state have to shift in order for you to feel love (or at least empathy) for Donald Trump?” How might that change him. And how might that change you?

Spiritual gurus tell us that things are as they should be, “all is God, be content.”