Donald J. Phoenix

Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of indictments, convictions, and an assassination attempt, Donald Trump has for the third time become the Republican nominee for president of the United States. There but for the grace of God goes he.

Not so blessed was Cory Comperatore who lost his life after having been shot in the head at the rally Trump survived. Comperatore was seated in the direct line of sight between Trump and the shooter. Seemingly the providence of God nudged one bullet half an inch away from Trump’s head only to graze his ear, and another was unhindered in its fatal trajectory to an unintended target.

It’s not difficult to believe that God protected Trump from certain death. Even die-hard, blue-blood Democrats are ashamed to concede that – miraculously - Trump beat the odds. Inexplicably, Cory was not shielded from the malice of a lone wolf, whose machinations unfolded before God for weeks if not months before the rally.

If God’s providence was in play at the rally, why does one man live and another die? Why did God choose to save Trump and stand idle against the threat to Cory?

Questions like these can never be answered with the shortcomings of the finite human mind. The Bible suggests God is impartial in all he does, not prone to prefer one over another. Yet, his providence is preferential; otherwise, it wouldn’t be preordained.

The same kind of puzzlement can envelop divine healing. One survives a train wreck while dozens succumb to their injuries. One is healed of cancer while thousands die from it.

Warned by an angel to flee Bethlehem, Joseph takes his wife and son to Egypt to save the Messiah from certain death. A man rushes to the airport only to miss his flight because of a flat tire, while hundreds on the same flight perish in the inferno of 9/11. Why do some people get premonitions of avoidable danger? Why do some people encounter sudden, unexpected circumstances that unfold in ways that save their lives?

Recently I was talking with a Christian who hates Donald Trump with unqualified passion. I volunteered the opinion that God might have spared Trump’s life at the rally. And perhaps that was proof enough that God favored him over President Biden. She disagreed quickly, contending that even the devil protects his own.

Eight years ago, 101 of 103 of the nation’s most respected pollsters predicted Hillary Clinton would be elected president. The remaining two pollsters argued Trump would win. On election night, network anchors and political commentators were in a state of shock as Donald Trump won the Electoral College even as Clinton received nearly three million more votes.

Was Trump’s election in 2016 providential? Does his stunning, unexpected upset prove that God was working behind the scenes to bring this man into the White House? I suspect that was the case given how it all played out, but I can’t be certain. What is clear is that bigger-than-life narcissism does not impede elected office. Neither does hyper-hyperbole, which seems to be unmatched in Trump. He colors everything with absolute extremes – biggest, smallest, greatest, worst, highest, lowest, and so forth.

If God is involved in American politics, then His story may well be written by the most enigmatic man who’s ever graced a presidential podium. Jesus rose from the dead to change the world. Donald Trump may make the same claim, with the tiniest twist. He didn’t die; he rose from near death. Same thing, but different.