Lord, Save My Soul From Lying Lips! A Prayer for the Age of Trump
We feel it, don’t we? The corrosive effect whenever we hear yet another patent, unapologetic, I-don’t-care-if-it’s-easily-refuted lie from the person who occupies the office of the President of the United States. As any magician understands, we’re vulnerable to lies; being subjected to repeated lies can loosen our grip on the truth, just as too many physical blows can loosen our grip on life. Serial lying is a classic gaslighting move that wears its subjects down.
Venting with others helps — Can you believe what he tweeted today? — but only so much. And then we feel duped by the attention he has wrested from us, yet again. We resolve to ignore him. But he is the President of the United States, whose words do matter, do engender consequences. So we feel bad about mimicking some flightless and absurdly large bird, sticking its head in the sand. Repeat cycle ad nauseum.
Lately I’ve stumbled on a little prayer for such a time as this — people in power lying chronically, brazenly, because they can. It’s from the psalmist — probably a Jewish exile in Babylon who suffered under a narcissistic, autocratic, demagogue surrounded by hand-picked sycophants (“Never said a truer word, Chief!). The prayer goes : “Lord, save my soul from lying lips, from the tongue of the deceitful” (Ps. 120: 2).
