YOU ONLY HURT THE ONES YOU LOVE

Matthew 26:23 - He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.”

The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. This implies intimacy, deep intimacy. And thus, deep betrayal. So, which of them is it? Would the disciples have known which one of them he meant? We know because we’ve been told. It seems like a non-answer in the end, more of a repetition of his original assertion. We too will betray him. It’s inevitable, because we’re human and in our ignorance or tiredness or self-centeredness, we dismiss the imago dei, the Christ in others we encounter or share our lives with.

I am reminded of the saying, “You always hurt the ones you love.” I think that’s because the closer the relationship, the deeper the hurt. Here, I am thinking of Donald’s and Q’s victims. The Proud Boys, the Boogaloo Boys, the QAnon fanatics, and all the other white supremacist groups that supported him. I understand many of them were waiting for the arrests of Biden, Harris, and others. Instead, Biden and Harris were sworn in without incident. I’m sure they must have felt betrayed. Dismayed, betrayed, hurt. They were all in for another four years. Some of them committed crimes for him. Donald betrayed us all in numerous ways, but I think this taking advantage of their ignorance or gullibility may have been the unkindest cut of all.

I actually feel bad for them – now that Donald cannot do more damage for the time being. I know what it feels like to be betrayed on this level. You probably do too. It hurts when someone we love and trust is cruel or heartless toward us. My hope for all those who feel that way about Donald might come to understand what the rest of us were saying about him now that their eyes are not blinded to the truth. It will be hard to admit the truth that they were duped and taken advantage of and then discarded when no longer necessary. But my hope is that they can come back to reality – and that they can make restitution for such behavior as needs it. Some of them more than others.

Of course, the Republican leadership and those white supremacists who were not taken in are not off the hook. They all knew better and were spreading the lies they knew to be lies. They all need to take a good long look in the mirror and see where their cowardice and racism has gotten them. Their betrayal is just as bad as Donald’s. The best way to love them now is to hold them accountable for their support of Donald’s betrayal and the damage his thousands of lies did to our country.

It is the one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me who will betray me. To those of us who are still traumatized by the betrayal of Donald and Republican leadership, my hope is that we can one day begin to relax and sleep at night. That one day we can recognize our neighbors as neighbors and not be worried about what kind of s#!t they might pull. That we no longer have to watch the president on a daily basis to be prepared for what might come next. No longer wait for the other shoe to drop.

My hope is that we can begin now to recover, however much time it takes. My hope is that we can hope for better days soon. And when we’re ready, to work for them as well.

B