Patience -- A Path to Mutual Respect and Cooperation?

 

It is a virtue, an ethic that God wants the Christian to take seriously. And yet, what does it look like? Try finding a picture of someone exercising patience, as in waiting, and you’ll see how challenging this can be, though this characteristic is often mentioned biblically. (see for example 1 Corinthians 13:4; Nehemiah 9:30; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 3:9…and, see prophets as an example [James 5:10]) Perhaps Daniel is one of the best visual examples, especially when he was facing punishment – in one of the most brutal ways – in the lions’ den (Daniel 6); this incident might also be described as an example of heroic courage, but nevertheless Daniel waited on God to rescue him, and He did so by sending an angel (v.22). (See a masterpiece artist’s conception of this episode here, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, by the 17^th Century painter Peter Paul Rubens…note that Rubens seems to have Daniel lifting a desperate prayer heavenward with clasped hands.) Love is patient (1 Cor. 13:4), and since God = love (1 John 4:8), we can believe that God is also patient. Isn’t it interesting that the first way that Paul described love as a character trait to the Corinthians, he told them it was exemplified by patience? Just how easy or hard is it to have patience in our fast-food world, when some answers and some services are just one or a few button-clicks away? If I live my life daily with this rapid-result expectation, is it an accident that our political environment behaves with the same attitude? It is easy to see how impatience with each other has broken the political climate in America; can we somehow get to a place where mutual respect through patience leads to more cooperative efforts (bipartisanship) and long-term solutions to growing problems – especially one that looms on the horizon?

 

Indeed, it is counter-cultural, and ahistorical with many examples, to find patience working well in American politics. Herbert Hoover waited, was patient -- or was it actually stubbornness? -- and look what happened to his career. The Great Depression sank his political prospects in 1932, and he lost his reelection bid in a landslide (to Franklin D. Roosevelt), largely because he was waiting on entities other than the federal government to directly intervene to lessen the economic calamity’s effects. It is a strength for politicians at all levels to appear, and act, proactively. A politician who doesn’t push legislation may in fact not be doing his/her job. So, how does this important ethic of patience fit in, or can it? There’s a tension between bureaucratic inertia and foolhardiness to rapidly and unilaterally implement measures; this includes today's efforts to shrink the federal government and its budget. It’s a large spectrum with lots to consider, including many proposals by both sides of the Democratic-Republican aisle historically to shrink government, with the latest being Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency effort (see Info on Department_of_Government_Efficiency).

 

Because the annual budget deficit seems to have become an accepted fact of life, there is value in what the DOGE aims to accomplish. And yet, measures to eliminate things like the Agency for International Development (AID), interfere with the activities of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and as-yet-unknown actions targeting several other federal agencies and cabinet-level departments – like the Departments of the Treasury and Education -- seem rash. Trump and his DOGE chief, Elon Musk, have speculated that they believe the federal budget’s annual outlay could be reduced by some $1 to $2 trillion, and that the federal workforce could be slashed by 75%. That would be immense, to put it lightly, and undoubtedly would affect millions of people here in the U.S. and around the world. Can we not study the best ways to streamline and reduce costs first, before proceeding? Moreover, some practices of DOGE already have been questioned by legal experts, breeding suspicion. Such a significant effort deserves more transparency regarding its information gathering to underpin its credibility and acceptance among the Democratic party, for what would stop the Democrats from reestablishing abolished agencies, etc. when – not if -- they retake the White House and Congress in the future? Many other questions can and should be asked, like where is the Congress and its constitutional duty to decide where and how much money is appropriated? And, how about the other side of the accounting ledger in this debate, namely revenue – i.e. tax collection? The debt is so large, that it seems unlikely that merely cutting spending would achieve enough saving; cutting spending, and raising more revenue is a must, if the debt is really to be pared down. Instead, Trump and company already seem to be making plans to extend tax cuts. Trump tax cuts, if made permanent, stand to benefit highest income earners, Treasury analysis shows | AP News This is also without any buy-in or apparent discussion with Democrats. No bipartisan discussions and no cooperative efforts are a sign of the highly polarized climate in Washington. When will this end? Will the arithmetic in all of this eventually overwhelm the political agendas? Have the political parties reached an impasse?

 

Perhaps one good way to define patience in the current American political environment, with all of the demonization by either side of each other, is this: Patience = Respect for others’ opinions. Another fellow in the bible who practiced this, despite many challenges, was Paul. Read how he reasoned patiently with the Athenians at the Areopagus (Acts 17:16-34), even while making his strong case for what he passionately believed. He didn’t hammer his listeners – he was patient, hoping to convince them through logic and his care for their welfare. (See a depiction of this below – Raphael’s St. Paul Preaching at Athens.) Listening and seeking information to consider the import of actions on people, and examining ways to lessen their suffering while accomplishing overall objectives, would be a respectful way to pursue cost-cutting measures. What has happened to the Christian values of mercy, forbearance, waiting on each other, and using our reasoning abilities to solve problems – and there are many -- in the USA? Some might respond that without strict or even draconian measures to tackle outsize things like the federal budget and its accompanying deficit, a certain catastrophe awaits. Indeed, just watch the digital display of accumulating federal debt, and how much of that debt is financed by other nations, should be enough to give anyone pause. The powers that be do need to address this issue, no doubt about it. But, giving the reins to a president whose grasp of facts has been pretty suspect, and who evidences so little humility and desire to work patiently with members of both sides, does not seem like a program for success. He won the office, evidently because enough people passionately agree with his agenda. Will they be patient when or if the agenda doesn’t meet expectations? Will the president and his supporters instead find themselves in the lions’ den eventually…or are we all there right now? Might the time be ripe for a third major political party to coalesce – perhaps one called Moderates or Independents – and bring solutions that the voting public can believe, versus the polemical storm that currently dominates the atmosphere? Pray that there will be some Daniels, or maybe Pauls, especially in high positions at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue, talking to the One above.

    

 

See information on the Daniel picture here: Daniel in Lions' Den …The author died in 1640, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.

 

See information on the Paul picture here Paul Preaching to the Athenians … This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. {{PD-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States.