A good prayer for a person in power ought to leave them with knees trembling rather than head nodding. —Esau McCaulley, The Atlantic
* * *
On Monday the president signed a batch of executive orders including one that aims to restore freedom of speech and end censorship.
On Tuesday at the National Cathedral’s Inaugural Prayer Service, the president got a dose of free speech.
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde exercised her first amendment rights and the “freedom of the pulpit.” She began with a generic appeal for unity with diversity in our polarized land.
(Amen.)
And then, in a surprise move, she spoke directly to the president and forcefully but kindly admonished him.
“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives.”
(JD Vance glanced toward the president with a look that said: Add HER to your list.)
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.”
That night the president published a rebuke:
She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!
(Hmm. Sounds like censorship to me.)
The president thought a church was a “safe space” for him. After all, every single church he visited over the past 10 years welcomed him as redeemer, messiah, God’s anointed servant to save America from liberals, commies, perverts, vermin, and “the woke.” All across our nation, certain pastors embraced him while congregants stood and applauded.
But, of course, THAT wasn’t bringing “the church into the World of politics.”
(On guard, my friends. The Vandals are inside the gate.)
I root for the church. But for the past 10 years, the public face of the church hasn’t looked good. On Tuesday, the Bishop gave it a good look.
Megyn Kelly didn’t like it. Fox News didn’t like it. The New York Post didn’t either.
And that’s what we in the preaching business call good preachin’.
Comfort the disturbed. Disturb the comfortable.
