Mercy In America

Richard Nixon won his re-election with a considerably higher margin than Donald Trump. I mention that because a lot of people seem impressed that Trump won. Trump has never had a mandate. Nixon absolutely did.

You can't argue that Richard Nixon was a great man. You can't argue that he was a great president. I've lived most of my life believing he was the worst president we'd ever have. You never know how things are gonna work out, though.

When things got really bad for Nixon, he called Kissinger to the Oval Office to pray with him. Kissinger, in later years, would tell of a repentant Nixon on his knees, weeping and praying. Kissinger was not a particularly devout man. No one had ever asked him to pray with them before. At that moment in history, Kissinger had already decided to side with the Senate Republicans against Nixon to save himself. Since he was not involved in the coverup (even though he had been involved in the bombing of Cambodia), Kissinger believed he could escape punishment in the oncoming implosion of the Nixon presidency.

Nixon was not a great man. He was a very flawed man with some strange ideas about what a president should do. He was, however, a devout man, and in his greatest moment of need, he prostrated himself before his God and asked for forgiveness and mercy.

Mercy.

The most powerful man in the world was asking God for mercy.

Part of being a human being means that you spend a great deal of time screwing up, not knowing what you're doing, and making mistakes you can't really compensate for. It's this fact of reality that makes the quality of mercy so important in our lives.

I can't tell you what God is. If Michalangelo's painting of him comforts you, then go for it, but I'm pretty sure that's not really it. God may not even be sentient in the way we are. God may be the mindless universe and its infinitely complex laws of physics. Whatever God is, though, God is your last chance for mercy, and we all require mercy.

The Bishop of Washington asked the current President for mercy. She believed her faith in God compelled her to do so. Since then, she's received a great deal of support but a great deal of criticism, including some very tangible threats of violence and at least one Georgia GOP Congressman calling for her deportation.

Because she asked for mercy.

I'm about as humble of a Christian as you'll meet. I can't even promise you I am a Christian. I spent many years literally afraid to take communion because I didn't feel worthy. It was through the love of David Elliot and Minkah Sprague that I was able to work through that.

What I can tell you is that everyone who ever drew breath requires God's mercy, and everyone who ever drew breath is required to offer their own mercy in return. That's the deal. That's what Christianity requires.

I've spent much of my life studying what happened with Richard Nixon. I can't really tell you anything to help you understand what happened there, but what I can offer is my own mercy to him. I think I owe him that.

People are upset that the Bishop of Washington asked the United States President for Mercy, not for herself, but for other Americans. I don’t understand people who don’t have the capacity for mercy in their hearts. I suppose they don’t understand me either.