Friends, last evening President Donald J. Trump announced on his social media platform and later at a 10:00 p.m. address to the nation that the United States entered Iranian air space and dropped bombs on three nuclear facilities there. You can read his exact words on these two communications and his other tweets on Heather Cox Richardson’s “Letters from an American” this morning on Substack.
In his address to the nation, President Trump claimed, “Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
Only time will confirm that (1) Iran was building a nuclear weapon (experts disagree); (2) that these sites were still the location of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium; and (3) whether the attacks, which appear to have been successful, will need to be followed up with more bombing to complete the mission.
This is a serious, historic moment that could neutralize Iran or could lead us into a protracted war with a terrorist nation. Unfortunately, I do not have confidence in this president or his small circle of advisors, many of whom have an anti-democracy agenda. While Trump claimed that Iran’s nuclear facilities were “completely and totally obliterated,” experts last evening said that only a daylight assessment that could take some time will confirm this.
The post that I prepared for today may seem quaint as we wake up in a state of war with Iran. This war was decided by one man and a handful of advisors many of us do not trust. Reports have noted that Trump does not frequently read the President’s Daily Brief (PDB), which is a summary of our intelligence on national security matters. He prefers to have his close advisors tell him the contents of these briefings.
Consistent with many of his executive orders, this declaration of war did not include Congressional approval as is required in the Constitution. Beyond Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, we do not know if other foreign leaders were consulted.
While the unfolding conflict could lead to negotiations with Iran that could bring assurance that Iran will not build nuclear weapons—an agreement such as the one President Trump abandoned in his first term—experts opined last evening that there are many unknowns following this attack.
We also need to understand that this act of war is a major distraction from the President’s failures and unpopular decisions domestically that prompted millions of Americans to protest a week ago Saturday. For example, this may be used as an excuse to expand U.S. military involvement in our own nation against dissenters as we have witnessed in Los Angeles. All of this is consistent with an authoritarian’s consolidation of power.
So, I begin by offering this age-old advice from scripture today as a contrast to a world in which many ambitious men who are heads of states have given us a war-torn world with unspeakable suffering, as opposed to God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.
•••
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; 5 it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; 10 but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. 13 So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
–1 Corinthians 13
The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Church in Corinth, thought to have been written in about 55 A.D., was meant to restore a church that had lost its way, was prideful, misusing its spiritual gifts, and “misunderstanding key Christian doctrines.”[i] This is why this beautiful passage is so incriminating, so haunting. It was meant for a congregation, but it has always pierced me personally. In some ways it is all we need to know about a Christ-centered life, and about this time in which we are living. I hope it is relevant for my friends of other faiths who share its universal truths.
Somewhere along the way, I came to summarize this letter in three words: posture of heart. We cannot truly succeed at anything if our posture of heart is not love.
This coming week our family will gather for five days on a beautiful lake. I will be with loved ones who make this scripture easier to implement. Loving and even my nemesis, Patience, will be easier to embrace in this timeout in a relaxed, beautiful place remote from the stresses of our time.
It has been another remarkable week. A week ago Saturday, millions of Americans signaled their displeasure with the Trump administration, particularly the cruelty of it, on No-Kings Day. The mass deportation of hard-working people; the separation of families by immigration status; the trampling of due process rights; the removal of watchdogs, guardrails, and checks and balances; a president who challenges historic constraints with his cabinet of implementers devoid of compassion…all brought out the masses in overwhelmingly peaceful protests.
The week saw the simultaneous display of a 40-million-dollar autocratic-style military parade that lacked the huge cheering crowds so desired by the President on his birthday.
The same day, a beloved Minnesota legislator and her husband were murdered, and another legislator and his wife were severely wounded by a gunman filled with hate for Democrats, a former so-called Christian intent on political violence.
And then there was Israel’s attack on Iran, opening the specter of another longer war in a world that is already war-torn. This war may not have been challenging us if President Trump had not abandoned in his first term the agreement that had contained Iran’s nuclear ambition.
Some feel very differently about all of this. Elected Republicans in Congress and in state legislatures have ceded their Constitutional powers and responsibilities. I believe that they will be seen in history as enablers. They believe that they are stamping out wokeness. They are crusaders who want to further enrich the wealthy while pulling the safety net from those at the other end of the massive wealth transfer of the past forty years, including our veterans, elderly, sick, disabled, and poor.
Nonetheless, it feels as if this week was a turning point. Trump’s approval rating is sinking overall and on specific issues. More Americans are seeing more clearly that the administration is implementing Project 2025, a blueprint for degrading our democracy and freedoms and replacing them with an autocratic, oligarchical dictatorship.
Trump’s base is divided on whether a foreign war fits into their definition of “America first.” The economic impact of tariffs; fewer laborers; cuts to Medicaid and food security; abandonment of our national neighbors and allies; defunding of expertise, research, and world leadership in world affairs and humanitarian aid…all have been destructive and are delivering a blow to the president’s support.
It will be increasingly difficult to remain neutral, and history will not abide ignorance. For those on the fence, the 1 Corinthian’s 13 litmus test simplifies the decision: Will it be love or hate for you?
Who is in charge of shaping the future for our children and grandchildren? Let’s look at just two today.
President Trump When asked if he had called Governor Walz following the tragic shootings in Wisconsin, our president said that he did not plan to call him. He considers Walz “whacked out”…”a mess,” and that it would be a “waste of time.” This is the consistent demonizing of Democrats and anyone who ever crossed Trump that we have witnessed countless times. No compassion expressed, no binding of wounds. Division is an important strategy for this administration.
Steven Miller NBC News has reported that “no White House official has accumulated more influence in this administration than Stephen Miller, the 39-year-old anti- immigration crusader.” Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, prepared Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship and floated the idea of ending Habeas Corpus. He was behind many of Trump’s executive orders from “the declaration of a national emergency at the southern border to dismantling diversity programs in the federal government and withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization.”[ii] Miller spoke out earlier this month to raise the quota of daily arrests of immigrants to 3,000, first reported by Axios, and later on Fox News, he called this a “minimum.” He told ICE officers to “look more broadly than immigrants who have committed crimes and to arrest noncriminal migrants anywhere they encounter them…”[iii] We cannot ignore the racial bigotry imbedded in these mass deportations.
I could easily add callous and misleading quotes from Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and more.
None appear to be coming from a posture of a loving heart. Do they reflect who we really are?
The last decade of Donald Trump’s dominance in American politics has provided an education on personality disorders and their expressions. While standing under a tree in the drizzling rain on No-Kings Day, an elderly lady (perhaps a couple years older than me) said, “We are seeing a lot of projection from Donald Trump.”
Indeed, this has become a common term. Psychology Today defines projection as usually a “defensive projection—attributing one’s own unacceptable urges to another. For example, if someone continuously bullies and ridicules a peer about his insecurities, the bully might be projecting his own struggle with self-esteem onto the other person.”[iv]
We have witnessed Trump’s projection on the stolen election claim when he is the one who tried to pressure the Secretary of State of Georgia to somehow find him enough votes to win the state. Trump’s most recent possible projection is troubling. It is anchored in the autopen allegations that imply President Biden was not really running the country while President. Does this signal that Trump is not really making the decisions?
Under pressure from farmers and hospitality (hotel and restaurant) business owners, Trump reversed his policy on June 12th on deporting undocumented immigrants in the farming and hospitality industries. Many of these people have been working here for years; the vast majority have no criminal record; have families with children who are American citizens; pay taxes; and do not reap federal benefits. The president had been told that they are hard to replace and many are “great.” With a short tweet on June 12th, Trump granted them continuation of their work and life here.
But by the following Monday, The Washington Post was reporting that Steven Miller had been instrumental in reversing this stance and the mass deportations of these people continues.
Who is running the country? The Heritage Foundation, authors of Project 2025, have already stacked the Supreme Court. Elon Musk had carte blanche access to government databases and the firing of thousands of civil servants and experts. Billionaires have purchased political power and sycophants are installed at the highest levels of government to implement Project 2025.
This week, I will unplug, have fun with loved ones, and then peacefully re-engage. I do so knowing that I fall short every day. We can’t wait to be perfect to try to bring truth, justice, and love to this world. I will re-read 1 Corinthians 13. It will remind me to always consider the heart of the matter, to observe the posture of heart in those who serve us. That litmus test quickly clarifies: Love or hate? Callousness or compassion? Justice or injustice?
Tens of millions of us are unequivocally on the side of love. May God help us.
Let’s pray for the 40,000 U.S. troops stationed in the Middle East and for peace.
[i] Got Questions: “Summary of the Book of 1 Corinthians.”
[ii] Jonathan Allen, Matt Dixon, Katherine Doyle and Sahil Kapur, “Stephan Miller re-emerges as an ‘untouchable’ force in Trump’s White House
[iii] Hayes Brown, MSNBC Opinion Writer/Editor, Opinion: “Stephen Miller always planned on deporting immigrant moms”
[iv] “Projection” Psychology Today accessed online on June 21, 2025.
We may rue the day that Israel lured us into a senseless war we had steadfastly avoided.
Lord, hear our prayer.