Sunday, January 19, 2020

On the president who would be king

For some reason our current president keeps reminding me of King Saul, the first king of Israel. I really don't know whether there is any parallel to be drawn, but I keep thinking of Saul and that passage in 1 Samuel 8 (v. 11-18) wherein Samuel warns the people against wanting a king.  I remember that God tells Samuel to let the people have what they want, but He also tells Samuel that they aren't going to like it. So, what was it the people of Israel wanted? Why did they want a king?  And why did we want this particular president, who --at times-- seems to think he is our king? Anyway, here are two poems inspired by the president.



For Donald Trump’s impeachment

This is the president
we elected without regard for who

he was. We wanted him
for our own,

because
he demanded nothing

of us. And we demanded
nothing

but that he be our king
and that he please

break something
on his way to the throne.

At least the monotony.

Lest we forget:
Samuel stood before the people
warning them

yet still they hungered
for a king.



The blind man runs for president


knowing only darkness
his platform proclaims
he alone is best suited
to recognize the light

by touch
he can find the sun





8 comments:

  1. Say what you will about this president, but he has done one thing that the opposition would never do — he has stood up for the unborn. This should earn him at least a little respect... certainly from Christians.

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    1. Thank you for that comment. I agree that support of the right to life is deserving of respect.

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    2. I also wanted to agree that there has been a sad absence of presidential presence at the annual Pro-Life march, and events like that. And --in his favor-- Mr. Trump is willing to appear at those events.

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    3. Might want to revise your poetry then. Certainly it is unfair to demonize a person as devoid of light that has the courage to stand up against the hoards arrayed against him on this issue and considering the magnitude of the slaughter. We're talking about innocent life. Upwards of 40 million to date.
      And,he was elected with regard to who he was. Remember Hillary Clinton was his opponent. Same issue.
      Not trying to be snarky, but I see this type of thinking on multiple issues regarding this President. I'm weary of it.

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    4. Thank you. I don't think you are being snarky. I agree with you about my poetry. It often needs revising, and can sometimes fall into oversimplifying for the sake of "art." I also agree that this is much more complex than good-guy/bad-guy stuff. Again, I am reminded of King Saul who is much more complex than any good-guy/bad-guy critical caricature makes him seem. The rise of King Saul is at least as much about the blindness of the people as it is any blindness of the king.

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    5. I apologize if I replied multiple times. I was having trouble with my wifi access and retyped my reply 2-3 times.

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  3. If the story of Saul is serving as an object lesson, then certainly the lesson could apply as well to presidents of all political parties, and it's not necessary to single out Trump, especially since there is so much hysteria generated against him now.

    In fact, if the message of the story is Israel's faithlessness in God and faithfulness to (a) man, don't you think that a case could be made that left-wing presidents represent that even more, since their platform is based on big (and bigger) government? Not saying the right is perfect... certainly much to criticize there. But, at least ostensibly they advocate for smaller government, thereby leaving room for Christians to refrain from abdicating their social responsibility.

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