I was chatting with one of my deacons earlier today about the nature of leadership in the political realm and what it entails to lead in an age of perfectionism/idealism. Even on this most blessed platform, there is a host of voices insisting that Trump should be doing more here, moving faster there, or fixing every instance of cultural and institutional decay overnight. That level of accountability is needed, and often quite helpful. But much of that criticism reveals a lack of proportion and, frankly, a forgetfulness about what came before him. We had a Bidenized America, which was cackling its way to oblivion... *if you catch my drift.

People talk around here as though he inherited a healthy nation with stable institutions and merely failed to maximize opportunities, and unless a Christianized epoch cometh soon, we are lost. But that is not reality.

The President inherited a deeply fractured political order, bureaucratic resistance at every level (think FBI), and decades of cultural and moral decline that no single administration could reverse in a few years.

In no way am I insinuating that Trumpism does not have room for improvement. I have a few thousand suggestions myself, but wisdom requires some historical memory, and I suspect that the idealist is dementia-ridden.

Further, one of the best cures for political perfectionism is simple: manage something yourself for a little while. Lead a business, pastor a church, oversee a school, run a household, or organize a community project....start a fundraising campaign for Sister Susy's Sunday School aquarium. And very quickly, you discover that change rarely comes all at once. Progress is often incremental, uneven, and slower than ideal. But you also learn in the process that every decision carries unintended consequences, competing pressures, and limitations that outsiders rarely see.

This is where gratitude becomes essential... especially in the political realm, for those of us who are outside observers. Gratitude trains us to recognize genuine victories instead of treating them as meaningless because they are incomplete. A grateful people can acknowledge movement in the right direction without pretending everything is perfect. We can all celebrate small restorations without demanding immediate utopia. Eschatology matters.

Pastorally speaking, this matters because a spirit of constant dissatisfaction eventually hollows people out. It creates cynicism disguised as discernment. And cynicism rarely builds anything lasting. But mature judgment recognizes both the imperfections that remain and the mercies that are present at the same time. And I think we need a healthy dose of optimism in our day, and I remain grateful for the Trump presidency and pray for this administration as often as I can.

God bless our President!