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Dear Mr. Trump:

Let me first explain why this letter does not address you as Mr. President. I can assure you that I mean no disrespect. Just the opposite. On several occasions you have called people like me “radical left lunatics” who are destroying the country. I would think my calling you “Mr. President” would strike you as more disrespectful than respectful, which is why I didn’t.

That aside, I am writing in response to your demand that Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edge Budde, Bishop of the Dioceses of Washington, issue an apology for the sermon she preached at the traditional presidential inaugural prayer service you attended last Tuesday at the National Cathedral.

Your specific words were: “Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”

I can understand how you would react to her sermon, especially since you said in your inaugural speech that you have believed since you survived an assassination attempt last summer that God has chosen you to make American great again.

Again, in your own words: “I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.”

It is precisely your sense of being chosen by God for such a time as this that prompted me to write this letter as someone who has spent a life-time studying theology and teaching students about the practice of ministry.

The fulfillment of such a sacred task is an awesome responsibility, and it is possible that God chose Bishop Budde to speak the words she did in order to provide the biblical context for how you might fulfill your sacred task.

Bishop Budde addressed the call for unity that you yourself mentioned in your inaugural speech, only she named three foundations for it that you did not – honoring the inherit dignity of every human being, honesty in both private conversations and public discourse, and humility as fallible human beings.

These three foundations of unity she named are as biblical as the love for both neighbor and enemy she noted that Jesus said formed the ethic by which we are to live.

They in fact provide the context for her making a plea to you as President to show mercy to the all marginalized people, including immigrants in our country, most of whom are here legally, but who are now very afraid for their future.

Her plea reflected numerous passages in the Bible that speak of the obligation of God’s people to welcome strangers among them as if they are one of them (Exodus 23, Leviticus 19, Deuteronomy 10, Matthew 25, Hebrews 13, Romans 12).

In a real sense, what she was saying is that there is a huge difference between being a Christian and being Christian in your daily words and actions, and she was calling you and all of us to understand that difference.

In this regard, even though you are a very busy man with demands on every minute of your days as President, it might help you in the future to better understand sermons such as the one last Tuesday were you to attend worship services at the Cathedral as often as possible.

After all, Joe Biden was able to attend daily mass on a regular basis for the entire four years he occupied the Oval Office. Not that I am comparing you to him, only to point out that attending worship services regularly might be more possible in your schedule than it appears to be right now.

The added advantage is that in doing so you might gain a more biblical understanding of the awesome responsibilities you say you have accepted in God choosing you to make America great again.

At the very least, doing whatever you deem possible to nurture yourself in being truly Christian will help you understand why Bishop Budde is not being disrespectful of your office to refuse to issue an apology for her sermon.

Doing so would be the equivalent of apologizing for preaching the Christian gospel, something she simply could or would never do.

I realize that writing this letter may strike you as being presumptuous on my part, but I felt the need to do so because in your demand for the Bishop and her church to apologize you said it should be made to the American people.

You need not carry that concern on your shoulders. We will be fine. In fact, her sermon went viral to the point where the millions of Americans (and people around the world) who heard your inaugural speech also heard what she said.

Perhaps that is a sign that God did indeed choose her to help all of us as Americans, and dare I say you as well, to understand what making our country great again actually means, thereby providing us with signs to look for as you try to do what you believe God chose you to do.  

Wishing you all the best for the sake of the country.

An American Citizen