I have been following the news very closely since the assassination attempt on the life of Donald J. Trump. I have also been interested in the first interview he gave following the shooting, his postings on his Truth Social site and the response from his followers.

There are very few things that former President Trump could say that I would agree with. However, he believes that God spared him from being assassinated and that he should be dead, and I do agree with that statement. It was a miracle he survived. Whether it was because he turned his head slightly as the shooter pulled the trigger or whether “something” changed the trajectory of the bullet ever so slightly sparing him, but unfortunately taking the life of another person, I cannot say. I’ll leave that question to the forensic folks and the FBI lab.

What I want to explore in this post is how Donald Trump might recover from this event and how, if at all, it might change him. It seems to me that he has been able to reflect a bit on what happened. That is a miracle in and of itself, barely a day and a half later. Consider the shock of it all. Consider the entourage around him that is preparing him for this week’s events at the National Convention, or trying to raise money off the shooting, or speculating on the best way to “spin” this to the MAGA movement’s advantage. All of this, unfortunately, is just “noise” to a person who barely escaped death and knows it. It is the last thing he needs to hear. What he needs to hear is a still, small voice from within, not the roar of the crowds.

I think this was something between a Damascus Road encounter and a near-death experience for Donald Trump. The “Damascus Road” reference calls the Apostle Paul into mind as he was planning a trip to another city, when he was rudely unhorsed by the presence of the Risen Christ. Many of us have heard of near death experiences with the dark tunnel and the brilliant light at the end of the tunnel. I have no reason to believe that Trump heard Jesus or experienced a tunnel and a light in that split second. But subjective symptoms aside, Trump was shaken nonetheless, even as Paul was. The pressing question is what happens next?

Many people change their lives after such an event if left alone to contemplate on it. They become better, more caring, more charitable and more positive for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, I don’t see how these adjectives fit easily within the greater MAGA movement. They don’t want a St. Francis. They want someone who “kicks ass” (including yours, if you happen to be a liberal as I am.)

RAY RAMIREZ

I remember many, many years ago sharing my faith with a bass guitarist about an hour before his band went on stage. I was a part-time “bouncer” at a club back then. The guitarist’s name was Ray. Ray Ramirez. As I recall it, Ray broke down and cried while we were together talking. De hombre a hombre. His life was a positive mess, and he responded hungrily to the Gospel message I told him about. A few people passed by as we spoke outside of the venue and looked at him quizzically. When his set began, he looked somehow different on the stage, positively radiant to me, and I had seen him perform several times before. The band played hard rock music (Motley Crue, Rush, Van Halen and so on.) He was the front man of the group. So, the crowd expected all sorts of profanity and crude sexual remarks and innuendos from him between songs. He would says the same remarks every time they played somewhere, so the shtick was thoroughly imprinted in his mind. But that evening after we prayed together, he would catch himself before he cursed or said something over the top. The crowd looked bewildered. WTH? His bandmates thought he lost his mind or OD’d. Picture AC/DC singing a song from “The Little Mermaid.” It was that sort of night.

Ray and I lost touch after that evening. I left the job before the band returned. We didn’t have social media or SMS to check on each other. When Ray returned to San Antonio after that gig, he had the tiniest mustard seed of faith with him. But it would likely take him in a different direction in life if it came to fruition. He was a nice guy before this all happened, but the Holy Spirit likely had a different path picked out for him. A high road. A different set of values and personality traits. The question was whether his friends, fans and bandmates would be able to extinguish that tiny mustard seed of faith, that tiny flame. They would no doubt try. It would make them feel uncomfortable. Not that they could, but they might discourage Ray from following the new path in front of him.

Donald Trump has come to a fork in the road, even as Ray did. He’s not a guitarist like Ray, but Trump has a rock star following. Neither did Ray have a close encounter with death like former President Trump did. The common denominator is that both men had an experience that convinced them that God is real and that He was very present in their lives at that certain moment.

WHAT DREAMS MAY COME

There may be an even bigger miracle to follow if Donald Trump responds to his second chance in life positively. If he understands his mortality, that God has a mission for him which likely doesn’t include rounding up fourteen million undocumented immigrants or arresting journalists, fellow Republicans and others who he perceives have wronged him, then something truly awesome (and wonderful) might follow. But if these changes in fact happen, they will happen in spite of the people around him, not because of them. They have a different agenda. They are fed on the politics of power, control and dominance.

There are all sorts of unlikely people who have been touched by the Spirit of God through the centuries, from Augustine of Hippo, to Emperor Constantine, to author C.S. Lewis, to World War II German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, to actor Mark Wahlberg, and it can happen again. Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer was walking with a friend when he was twenty-two years of age, when a bolt of lighting struck and killed his friend while sparing Luther. This act led to Luther pursuing a degree in theology.

The real miracle would be to see Donald Trump emerge as a dedicated Christian and humanitarian. He could be a better person than he is now. He could be a better person than me.

Something to pray for.