This piece is written by Nick Padovani, editor of Elisha’s Riddle. The views and thoughts that follow are his own.
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This week there’s really only one news story to focus on. It’s the elephant in the room–that is, the literal “elephant” logo of the Republican Party. Their nominee, Donald J. Trump, is now President-Elect of the United States of America.
And now division and tensions are higher than ever.
We have been slowly prepping toward this in the Cold Civil War series that we released on Elisha’s Riddle over the last month. In light of these events, it may be good to go back and read through that series if you missed any of it. I want to provide some closing thoughts on all of it while also weighing in on the election results.
I wanted to wait a few days before posting anything on social media about the election. I appreciate the ability to share thoughts and reactions to the world, but I think there are times to be slow to speak and quick to listen. People need to let their emotions out, whether it’s feelings of elation or disgust, and we can’t just try and throw the wet blanket of “reason” on all of it. It’s okay for people to vent. And I think patient listening is a key step torward to future restoration. These are basic principles of healthy individual relationships, but it plays out on the national scale as well.
So having taken some time to listen and pray and think through these things, I wanted to share some reflections on it all. Reflections that can probably be categorized as a form of “prophetic” thought. But I will leave that in your hands to test and judge . . .
A Real Cold Civil War
The division is real and there is a clear civil war happening in our nation, which is truly more akin to the “Cold War” in that it’s primarily battle of ideology and words. This is something our nation and many nations have been through time and time again. In times of transition of power, there is always incredible struggle like the one we’re seeing now. (Let’s just be thankful that most of us are only experiencing being “unfriended” on Facebook. I’ll take that any day over a musket blowing up in my face on the fields of Gettysburg.)
So I want to offer a perspective of hope and confidence in what transpired on November 9. It is my personal belief that something very good happened. I was actually glad about the results, and yet at the same time I have also been very sad, because I feel the pain and fear that other people have over the future of our country. And I will not try to force feed a de-legitimatization of their pain.
So let me begin by saying the following is not an endorsement of Trump’s many appalling actions or words during this past campaign or in his personal life. Too many Christians crowning Trump as the saving grace of America have blindly ignored or whitewashed demeaning things Trump has said and done. I understand they would argue that the media has hyper-inflated certain remarks and has utilized sound bites and out-of-context quotes to enhance this perception. However, there is still something disgusting about many of Trump’s statements even when taken in context. And let’s be honest and say that we wouldn’t be as quick to forgive Obama or Hillary for saying such things, but would rather use those things as leverage against their campaigns. We need some deeper humility here.
That being said, I do believe this election was divinely orchestrated, and I believe it will produce great fruit in the future. I believe the reason for this lies in the message I was subtly hinting at during the whole Cold Civil War series. Honesty, I did not come out as strong with the prophetic insinuations I was making, mainly because of my desire to bring unity and keep the focus on grace. However, I am seeing that now is the time to be a little bit more clear about its implications . . .
Once Again
To summarize the series, we showed how the Captain America films have been like an illuminating “parable” for the nation. In that parable we saw a divide between the Avengers, who are a team of superheroes who sit under the leadership of Captain America. We saw how this was an artistic mirroring (probably somewhat unintentional) of the current divide within the United States of America. In the series we then pointed out how Iron Man’s side of the division was like the liberal movement and Captain America’s side represented the Conservative movement (although this was nicely hidden behind Iron Man’s “red” and Captain American’s “blue,” which was a reversal of the political movements they represented).
At the end of the movie, Captain America “won,” but it was a very bitter victory. Iron Man did not see eye to eye with Captain America. This is because Iron Man was hurt by something that a member of the other side had done in his past. Iron Man was furious and unable to reconcile with the other party. This was a real hurt over a real injustice that had happened. However, there was also intense manipulation happening behind the scenes to enhance Iron Man’s bitterness. (And indeed there is great manipulation in the media to enhance the genuine concerns and outrages on the liberal side of things.)
But despite the division, the movie ends with a major global disaster being averted. Now I want to say something controversial here, but I promise such a statement has been bathed in prayer and reflection and it is not said flippantly . . .
Disaster Averted
I believe the continuation of a Clinton administration and the different movers and shakers behind them was bringing us on a collision course with unprecedented global conflict. Wikileaks began to expose some of the underlying things here and I won’t go in detail on all of it. It has do with Saudi Arabian influences and certain foreign policies related to Russia, Iran, and Iraq. There was a reason the Bush’s were behind the Clinton’s almost automatically when Jeb dropped out. The dynasties of the Bushes and Clintons are a part of a much bigger thread throughout history where powerful families tied in with strong financial forces can move things in devastating directions.
I’m not speaking in conspiracy theories here. I’m looking at the raw facts of what happened in Iraq under the Bushes, and in Libya under Hillary (as Secretary of State) and other things that Wikileaks has exposed in connection to the Clintons overall (just like they exposed deeply concerning things about Bush in the early 2000s, which was a delight to the liberal movement then; however, this time around they became enemies with Wikileaks because the tables had turned).
I believe a worse outcome was averted by which would have brought incredible consequences to the world. I can’t prove this, and I can’t convince any antagonist readers of this. I can only say that this is something that burned deep in my heart and I felt confirmed over and over again. I believe with all my heart that there was a set of events through the election of Hillary Clinton that would have unintentionally led us down a path to destruction. However, this could have been averted if Bernie Sanders, Rand Paul, or Donald Trump won. In the end, it was Trump who took the prize. And perhaps we will only know in eternity what the other options would have led to.
Now let’s pause for a moment: This is not saying that people who voted for Hillary are deceived war-mongers. Here’s a call for us to stop and reflect on how pointless and fruitless it is to vilify other people. I believe people can vote for the wrong person for the right reasons, and their heart is totally clean before the Lord. I believe many good people voted for Hillary because they see deeper issues of systemic racism and fear-mongering at work in many sectors of the Trump movement, and that is legitimate and OK. These people are not baby-killers because they didn’t vote for the pro-life candidate. Such condemnation will not get us anywhere. (And trust me, I understand this vilification of Trump voters that comes from the other side as well. I’m not justifying any of it.)
Ok, let’s press play again… There is a reason the entire establishment of old-time Republicans, media moguls, Wall Street, arms dealers, and drug cartels were against Trump (go ahead and do the research). This move represents a shift in power that will shake many unhealthy structures at work in the global environment. Now this will not be a “perfect” transition and I’m not claiming all will be well and right in the Trump administration. This is actually much bigger than a person. But like Iron Man, many of us have often been manipulated by outside forces that have made us lose sight of the bigger picture. And in the grand scheme of things, there was a great victory accomplished that will take a long time for history books to agree with.
A Bittersweet Victory
Now, with that in mind, let ‘s talk about the film’s ending. Disaster gets averted and victory is won, but there is still a sad and difficult finale. Friends on the same team remain deeply divided with even more pain than when the conflict initially broke out! Captain America and Iron Man are no longer in relationship at the end of the movie, because Captain America sided with someone who had done horrible things in his life. Iron Man couldn’t reconcile that and was not OK with it.
In the same way, liberals see the conservative movement (and much of the church) siding with someone who has indeed done horrible things and they cannot reconcile this with reality. There’s too much pain that goes too deep and trust has been broken . . . and trust takes a long time to restore.
But here’s where we will end on a note of tremendous hope. The person Captain America sides with ends up becoming a hero (I’m referring to the Winter Soldier for any of you who have seen the movie). I believe the same will be said about President Trump. I do not believe he is the saving grace of America, and I would never call someone the “Lord’s anointed,” because that is using the language of an outdated covenant that was actually pointing toward the Messiah. There is only true King who will save the world, and it’s not Donald Trump.
Nonetheless, I believe certain policies will be enacted through this coming administration that will shake up the current power structures that will actually bring a healthy shift in the areas like the drug epidemic, Iranian nuclear power, and economics. God will use people both on the ground level and in the government toward this end. I am not saying Trump is the one on the white horse bringing these things. It is actually more the people on the ground level who will be a part of these shifts. The current administration will simply allow these shifts to happen in a greater way.
The Civil War movie is actually one big set-up for a bigger series of movies coming out that will re-unite the entire Avenger team against a greater evil. These movies will begin to come out during Trump’s term. Coinciding with this will be the final movie of the Star Wars series, which is all about the destruction of the “Empire” and restoration of the galactic “Republic.” This may be laughable to some readers, but the arts drip with foresight and illumination and there is a message being shouted loud and clear to this nation. The Spirit of Jesus still hovers over the earth and He still speaks in parables that people may hear but not fully understand. Jesus is deeply at work in Hollywood to speak to the nations.
And so I want to say loud and clear that unity is coming. And restoration. I believe by the final year of Trump’s presidency you will see a dramatic shift in unity in the nation as the Democratic and Republican Parties go through tremendous revolution. This dividing two party system is slowly meeting its end with the campaign of Bernie Sanders and the election of the Donald Trump.
And so I am personally praying for Trump. I believe he is like the Winter Soldier in the movie, and that his heart has actually already begun to change.
But we can’t argue or fight people into this conclusion . . . they have to be shown it. I don’t know how Iron Man will come around in the new Avengers film, but I know he will. And he may even end up saving the day! To the possible offense of my conservative readers, you may find the very principles of the liberal movement become the greatest force of change in the world. And yet they will occur at the ground level and not by the force of government entities. And hence the two sides would become more and more one as a result.
That may sound like a pipe dream to many readers. And time will certainly tell on that. But I wanted to go ahead and put it on the record loud and clear.
In the meantime, let’s continue to listen. Let’s learn to step into other people’s shoes. And let’s also continue to pray for those in power while trying our best to avoid from nasty and fruitless arguments (see 1 Tim 2:1-2 & verse 8).