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Have no fear, Daniel: I have no illusions that you are optimistic about Donald Trump

Reader comment on item: An Author's Lament over Article Titles

Submitted by Michael S, Jan 22, 2017 at 03:26

"An editor is one who separates the wheat from the chaff and prints the chaff."

Hello, Daniel. I don't know whether your article, nor the things to which it refers, will ever be properly understood by the readers. The problem isn't with you, nor with your titles, nor even with the readers: It is simply with human nature.

King David once declared of himself, "I am a worm, not a man", in Psalm 22:6. Christians take that psalm as being prophetic of Jesus Christ, which even magnifies my point: If David and Jesus saw themselves as "worm-like" beings because of their human natures, how much less can we expect of ourselves. We do our best, and try to be and look respectable; but the "worm" is what other people so often see.

In spite of our inherent lowliness, God has highly esteemed us in His word:

1 Peter 1:
[9] Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
[10] Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto yo... which things the angels desire to look into.

Peter is talking about the fact that God, understanding our lowniless, has nonetheless reached out to us; and that even the angels, who are at the moment much higher than us, look with amazement at this strange attachment God has for us. It is as David said,

Psalms 8:
[4] What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
[5] For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
[6] Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
[7] All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
[8] The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
[9] O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Forgive me, if I seem to have gone off on a bunny trail. My intent, is to put what you said in a bigger perspective. Concerning the specifics, have no fear: I have never gotten the impression that you are even mildly optimistic about our current President. I AM so optimistic; but I have no illusions that you are. My hope, is that my optimism will bear itself out and that we two will come closer to one mind on the matter.

So far, so good. The President is following through concerning Obamacare and getting his close advisors confirmed by the government. He has said that Monday (Jan. 23, 2017) will be his first real "work day"; and I think you can count on his having a stock of pens on hand to sign MANY bills and executive orders. This is completely in line with what he has said he would do, showing that he is a man of integrity.

My main concern, at the moment, is what he will finally implement concerning moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. After that, I am curious to see how he will respond to the Russian invitation to attend the talks at Astana. That will have great implications, especially in Russian-Iranian and Turkish-Iranian relations. In East Asia, I think things will evolve more slowly; but I may become surprized. Concerning Europe, the President has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office (as he said he would). This portends good things for US-British relations.

God bless and keep you and yours.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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Reader comments (8) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Suggestion for Further Laughs [107 words]AlexJan 24, 2017 10:28235766
MEF Website Very Open Minded [84 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
DaveJan 23, 2017 13:14235725
You're not alone [25 words]Mike ShapiroJan 22, 2017 17:55235715
Search engine hits and titles [72 words]PezDispenserJan 22, 2017 05:32235694
Support for Trump? [101 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
WartyJan 22, 2017 05:18235693
Have no fear, Daniel: I have no illusions that you are optimistic about Donald Trump [608 words]Michael SJan 22, 2017 03:26235691
Who should choose the title? [75 words]Vinay KolhatkarJan 21, 2017 20:47235671
I Feel Your Pain [221 words]IraJan 21, 2017 16:29235669

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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