As the years have passed, I have been getting shorter. Leaping over tall buildings has become more difficult, as has keeping my mind in good shape inside of this smaller body. It’s incredible how exercise, diet, sleep and loving relationships have so far kept my overall spirit from withering. I’m grateful for that blessing.
One matter that has dogged my mental well-being, though, has been the anxieties that have pummeled me because of another incredible shrinking man, the former president. Lately I’ve noticed that he’s also decreasing in body and mind—something that’s important to name and to remember.
Like me, he’s an older guy, but not exactly living a healthy lifestyle. When that fact is added to his natural process of aging, his overall shrinkage is understandable. Noticeable, too. He’s shorter than before—his baggy suits might be one sign. The decrease in his stamina, mental acuity and emotional intelligence has gone from a trickle to a torrent. His overall presence seems, well, just smaller. To say that directly, Donald Trump is becoming a little man, shrinking much more than he’d like us to think.
I write this not to rejoice in his decline. Instead, this natural process—not unlike my own—reminds me that this man’s atrophying substance will eventually whittle down his power and influence over those who need him to be their strongman or savior. They will find it difficult to remain in his cult as he shrivels towards tiny. They, too, may shrink incredibly.
There’s comfort of a kind in that realization—part of God’s answer to my “How long, oh Lord?” prayers over these years. A reminder to hold on to hope. To be patient as well as observant.
And perhaps, also, to remain humble about my own incredible shrinking….
