BY VICTORIA NGOZI IKEANO
victoriangozii@gmail.com 08033077519
 
One imagines that United States president Donald J. Trump (hereafter referred to as DJT) sees the world as a stage in which he is the lead actor, producer and director all rolled into one. All eyes are on him, watching, following every move, every speech of his as they reverberate in all four corners of the planet with telling effect. He enjoys the attention, even craves for it, egged on by his die-hard supporters a.k.a. extreme right wing whose world view is linear. His behaviour is increasingly becoming obtrusive.  And his trade mark language is to put it mildly coarse and vitriolic to put bluntly.  Still, many of his admirers worldwide love him for this  as they say he says things as they are with no holds barred, no pretence. Some others loathe this his manner of speaking. For, a leader not least one that is touted as leader of the free world should be a model to all and his conduct should be noble, above board in all respects. Can we say that he has a noble heart? From his external conducts one cannot be sure about that;  not  when he ordered kidnapping of a sitting president, hauling him to the US for prosecution; not when he threatened other Latin-American countries that  similar fate awaits them if they are not careful; not when he imposed an excruciating blockade on Cuba that has seen citizens of that suffering untold economic hardship; not when he has pulled the US (the largest contributor) out of some United Nations institutions thereby denying especially Africans, access to some health products that used to be  subsidized by the US. As  a result some medicines are now out of reach of the average Nigerian, nay Africans; and so on and so forth. 
 
This  47th  POTUS (president of the United States) is known to frequently indulge in mockery, ridicule, lashing out at practically everyone, irrespective of their nationality or international standing. He is no respecter of age, position or race, each of these groups, including his own sister, Mary Trump has tasted his bitter, caustic tongue, unfortunately. He wasted   no time in exhibiting his acerbic nature. One of his first unworthy conduct in his very first term as 45th  POTUS was mocking a disabled child. It was as though he was wishing that disabled people would be wiped off the globe which brought memories of Adolf Hitler’s pursuit of an Aryan ‘pure tribe’. As stated DJT is no respecter of persons, not even according to past US presidents courtesy  of addressing them in decent language. He tongue lashes them at will without due respect. He derogatorily refers to his predecessor, Joe Biden as “sleeping Joe”. And he went off limits when not long ago he posted an image depicting   former president Barrack Obama (the man who handed the presidential baton to him) and his wife Mitchell as apes. Despite the backlash, it took quite a while for POTUS 47 to take down the post. Even then he did not apologise for the obvious insult to the Obamas and the black race inherent in that post.  He saw no reason to apologise which means he probably pulled out the offensive post against his wish. 
 
When recently,  German president said something to the effect that the US was being humiliated in the Iran conflict, POTUS47, apparently allergic to criticisms, promptly  gave notice that America shall withdraw some 5000 of its troops stationed in that country; the troops are part of Germany’s security architecture under the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation(NATO).
 
Lately, DJT veered into an area where many would tread cautiously — exchanging words with the Pope, Pope Leo, leader of the world’s one billion Catholics, the largest Christian denomination on earth. And this is notwithstanding the fact that Pope Leo is an American, the first American to occupy that post. One would have thought that as a fellow American, the two world leaders (in their own rights) would get along very well. The Pope had rightly and as is his duty, condemned the war  between US/Israel and Iran. Whereupon DJT denounced him as being weak, and so on and so forth…This spat comes barely one  year after Pope Leo the X1V’s  inauguration. As it is, it is doubtful if the Pope will attend America’s Independence anniversary celebration on July 4 for which the president had invited him. War is music only to the ears of those who have not experienced it. Anyone with a tinge of humanity within will always wish for a war-free world where harmony prevails.  For, progress, growth and development can take place only in a harmonious environment, devoid of rancour. Nothing good comes out of war. Only those that are dead within orchestrate, trigger, and support directly or indirectly, conflicts of whatever kinds at whatever levels. World leaders and and other leaders at all levels including we the followers and supporters should wholeheartedly pursue peace in all its ramifications for the sake of peace for, nothing equals peace and harmony.
 
POTUS 47 dabbled into another religious terrain when an image appeared on his Truth social media depicting him as Jesus, performing a miracle on a sick person. Expectedly, it drew some outrage, necessitating DJT to clarify that the image was not posted by him personally but by a staff. Does  POTUS 47 give his strong character look like someone that would allow someone else to post anything on his own page without his knowledge or consent? I doubt it. He added that the image was meant in a medical way, like a medical doctor attending to/healing a patient. But the person administering is not wearing a health practitioner’s uniform. Anyway  I interpret that image to mean (ironical as it may seem to some people), that his soul is yearning for some ideal. His inner being is most probably weighed down by the many troubles plaguing our world today, leading to  anguish of soul and body for many, the end result being unprecedented deaths. These are global problems in which world leaders, not least the US(as leader of the free world), their supporters, followers and citizens and all others are implicated. He senses albeit vaguely  in his quiet moments, that as a leader of leaders he can help through empathy, understanding and LOVE bring some relief to a sick world and its sick people rather than through the barrel of the gun, bomb-laden fighter jets, long range modern missiles which bring nothing but destruction and misery. Unfortunately DJT is being pulled in two opposite directions by some centrifugal forces.  One voice is silently urging him to serve humanity in truth  with his privileged leadership position by striving after what is good, noble and pure and so lay his treasures in heaven while another voice is urging and telling him that it is better for him to be feared than be admired for good deeds that amount to very little here on earth. The latter speaks to his faults and weaknesses which it seeks to nourish through vainglorious conceit.
 
My submission that that image depicting DJT as Jesus healing someone symbolises the stirrings of his soul, that his soul  longs  for something that would bring real succour to mankind is reinforced by a report that POTUS 47 now participates in Bible readings   in the White House. This indicates that he is seeking consciously or unconsciously for some spiritual eternal values. In this regard I do hope that he has during these readings come across the beatitudes in Mathew chapter 5, verses 3 to 10. He will do well to take them to heart. Here is a reminder of them: 
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”. Not everyone is a ‘child of God’. Children of God are those who do the Will of God, the fundament of which is Love. Fostering peace and harmony wherever one is or wherever one finds oneself is part of love. Hence we are enjoined to love our neighbours as ourselves.
“Blessed are the clean in heart, for they will see God”. Of course nobody can see God. To see God here means to get to the Kingdom of God  Only he/she whose heart is clean, devoid of any evil machinations can enter the Kingdom of God. Hence we are enjoined to keep the heath of our thoughts pure.
“Blessed are the merciful, for, they will be shown mercy”. This relates to God’s law of reaping and sowing. If you want kindness, sow kindness, that is, show kindness to others. And so on and so forth.
“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” Those who earnestly long for righteousness, that is the path that leads to righteousness which in effect means the knowledge of God, His Creation, His Will in which is embedded His laws a.k.a. the laws of Creation shall be satisfied, that is, shall find. Seek earnestly and you shall find
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land”. The land here means the Kingdom of God and the meek means to be humble, discarding conceit and related vices. ‘In lacking humility, we lack everything’
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  To be poor in spirit means not to be so obsessed with earthly things and enjoyments as to make them the sole purpose of our lives here on earth, such that they become a propensity and hindrance in our upward striving for the kingdom of God. My loving thoughts and prayers go out to POTUS47 in this his new endeavour of digging into the Bible. May this be the first step towards higher recognitions that would ultimately change his characterisation as a belligerent person to someone that is determined to help  make the world a better place for all irrespective of race,  colour, creed or gender.