The dust is settling from the campaign...there are sights of jubilant people, celebration, shock, anger, fear and worry posted in tweets, snaps, photos, status updates and news reports. There is an air of uncertainty about the words you said during the campaign. Were they real? Did you mean them? Will you really do what you said you would? And at what cost? But, perhaps the biggest question is, what sort of president will you be?
May I offer a suggestion, but before I do, congratulations on your victory. What was spoken of in jest years ago has become a reality that many thought was never possible. You proved them, and me, wrong. I didn't vote for you, but you are now my president, and I will honor the democratic process, while at the same time, I will pursue my civil and spiritual duty in that process.
So that is why I offer a suggestion to you, that I hope you will take to heart.
Be a humble president.
I can hear those who would think I am crazy for suggesting that. I hope you won't think me crazy, but will rather take what I seriously and soberly. We need a humble president in our country and our world. It is the best place, and I believe, the only place to begin.
Recently I wrote a blog article about the race issues in our country, issues that your publicized rhetoric has sadly fueled and worsened rather than improved. I offered an opinion that humility on both sides was a necessary first step. I hope you will lead the charge in making that first step for us.
What we need and want in a president is someone who will live better than our ideals and not lower than our expectations. You can do that. I use humility because it is a virtue so often misunderstood, and sadly, not valued enough.
I follow a definition of humility coined by John Dickson, in his book Humilitas. He defines humility as the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources and use your influence for the good of others before yourself. It is a practical definition that can be used well to guide you in your presidency. If I may be bold, here are some thoughts on how you can be humble. I don't expect you to succeed at this all the time. I fail at it often, even daily. But what a worthwhile goal to strive towards in being humble!
First, it is a noble choice. Not weak, not crazy or stupid. It is dignified, powerful and displays a virtue well displayed by your predecessor President Obama. Make that noble choice for ALL of us!
Second, forgo your status. You have been given the highest status in public service in our country. There are many titles and statuses that go with your new position of POTUS - commander in chief, signer of laws, one who appoints judges and more. The fullest one is that you are a public servant. Forgoing means not holding onto your status for your benefit, but using it for the benefit of others. Be a public servant...serve ALL the American people well by forgoing your status benefits and using them to help everyone improve. Since we live in a world where what happens across the globe impacts us here at home, you have the privilege and opportunity to forgo that status in the expense of serving humanity. Please, do it well. Status has been given to you Forgo it as a servant to ALL.
Third, deploy your resources. You have many resources in your private life. Now, your election has bestowed on you enough resources to help or destroy the world many times over. In your public life deploy your resources for the good of America and the world. You have many resources to deploy. Deploy them wisely, deploy them safely, deploy them for the good of many, not the benefit of the few.
Fourth, use your influence. One description of the president's power is that all he has are relationships and influence. But oh, what influence and what powerful relationships. You have the ability now to influence global markets, determine family prosperity for generations, unite or divide us as a country, plunge us into a world war or build a global village. You have that influence. You could use it for personal benefit, familial promotion or party aggrandizement OR you could use it for upliftment, empowerment and improvement for ALL.
I am not naive to the impossible task this presents, or to the past we have witnessed in this campaign. I prefer to ask you to be better than we expect. Avoid lowering the base part of who we are, resist reducing our rhetoric to sound bites and instead lift our hopes, raise our dreams and expand our vision.
Do more than make America great, make ALL of us great; a great race of humanity surging towards the best of what we are created to be.
Be humble Mr President.
Make that your legacy.
God bless you.
God bless us all.
