CREEDE HINSHAW: God and the president at the auto parts counter

It’s not every day one receives a Sunday School lesson on God and Donald Trump at the auto parts counter, but such are the times in which we live.

I had gone to the parts counter because the battery was failing in my car’s key fob. While the service attendant changed my battery, I casually asked him if the store had been closed during the worst days of lockdown. That innocent question prompted him to open up about disease and God’s using Trump.

I have been counseling readers of this column to be careful listeners rather than assertive speakers, and for once I followed my own advice. This man had much to say, all spoken from a genuine, sincere spirit. There was no anger, no vehemence, no belittling going on with him. He knew he was a Trump voter, a fact buttressed by his understanding of the scripture.

It was the first time I’ve ever heard Nebuchadnezzar cited at an auto parts counter, or anywhere except a Sunday School lesson or a preacher ranging too far afield. This man would have made his preacher proud. He told me he knew his Bible from the front cover to the back cover; he didn’t say this boastfully, but simply as a matter of fact.

While my teacher was carefully removing those tiny, tiny screws holding the panel in place on my key fob, he went on to explain that God, who once used old Nebuchadnezzar as a holy instrument, was using Trump today. For good measure, he threw in the observation that the old Persian despot was in heaven now, having been saved by Daniel.

The clerk explained these things as naturally as if he were talking about the weather. As he finished his task, I asked out of curiosity if he had voted yet and was not surprised to learn that he planned to vote on Nov. 3, Election Day.

Seldom do we have the opportunity — or take the opportunity — to listen to one another. From what I had seen and heard from this individual, I’d be more than happy to have him for a friend or a neighbor. He was on no soapbox; he was simply explaining current events as he understood them through the eyes of his faith.

The ways of God and humans are more inscrutable to me than they were to this man, but his understanding of God’s divine purpose was clearly, simply stated. Although I don’t agree with the part about God anointing Trump, I believe with Paul (Romans 8) that all things work together for the good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. These words, however, I kept to myself.

I could write a few dismissive paragraphs about the fairly widespread view of our president as God’s anointed instrument, but I didn’t try to have the last word at that auto parts counter, and I’m not going to do it now. It’s more than enough to give another person a fair hearing.