I finished Daniel Frick's Reinventing Richard Nixon: A Cultural History of an American Obsession. In this post, I'll use as my starting-point something that Frick says on pages 222-223:
"...Dallas
Boyd, who has developed a fascination with Buddhism, theosophy,
astrology, and channeling, has come to believe in an authentic Richard
Nixon who exists outside the man's physical shell. Through his intense
identification with the role he plays on stage, Boyd has been inviting
this genuine Nixon into the actor's body. Enticing this spirit to
experience the play might permit the man's tortured soul to slough off
the 'prejudices and stubborn self-images' that imprisoned the historical
Nixon throughout his life. The point of all Boyd's efforts of these
past fourteen months, he comes to realize, is to provide some form of
expiation for the disgraced former president: 'I've already forgiven
myself. It's all for Tricky Dick from here on out.' As he prepares for
his performance each night, Boyd meditates, channeling all of Nixon's
'anger and hatred,' transforming it into 'the most peaceful, wonderful
feelings.' Exploring Nixon's guilt permits the actor to realize that
Nixon's chance to exorcise the demons of his past might redeem us all.
As Boyd, transformed into Richard Nixon, makes his entrance on stage,
the walls and ceiling of the theater evaporate. The stars of the Milky
Way shine overhead while, below, the dead from Cambodia and Kent State
join the audience, along with Pat Nixon and the actor's dead lover.
Together, all these imperfect people, 'as flawed as Dallas, as flawed as
Richard Nixon,' desire simply 'a glimpse of the truth.' And that
release, through Boyd's spiritual performance, seems only moments away."
Frick
is talking here about the short story "Nixon Under the Bodhi Tree," by
Gerald Reilly. The story is about a forty-three year old homosexual
actor named Dallas Boyd, who is going to play Richard Nixon in a one-man
show. Boyd is getting rave reviews, but he is finding that he is too
tired for the two-hour performance, since he is in the late stages of
AIDS. Also, Boyd learns that Richard Nixon has recently died.
I
don't know if Boyd is literally channeling Nixon, in the sense that
Nixon's spirit is possessing him, or if "channeling" in this case simply
means that Boyd is really identifying with his character. I am not a
supporter of channeling, but the image of healing, redemption, and
reconciliation in the midst of human imperfections is beautiful in the
passage that I just quoted.
The passage reminded me of something
that Frick said near the beginning of his book. Frick was discussing
Richard Nixon's funeral, and he noted that evangelist Billy Graham in
his sermon at the event likened Richard Nixon to Saul. Frick describes
Graham's sermon as follows:
"Reading the noted Hebrew Bible
scholar Ernest Wright's characterization of the first king of the
Israelites evokes an unsettling case of reverse [deja vu]: 'Saul had
some fine political successes, but he seems to have possessed a certain
instability of character.' By conjuring up this tragic figure of a man
who could have been a great king had it not been for 'an evil spirit
from the Lord [that] tormented him,' Graham reminded us of Richard
Nixon's presidential accomplishments while calling us to mourn that he
had succumbed to his demons. At the same time, Graham insisted, the
nation must cease to condemn Nixon, because 'in the end the only thing
that really counts is not how others see us here, but how God sees us' (Services,
18). Pronouncing that he believed Nixon was now in heaven, Graham
attempted to complete the process of spiritual healing by forever taking
the power to judge the former president out of the secular realm and by
aspiring to inter not just Nixon's physical remains but also the uneasy
spirit of his political legacy that had haunted recent American
experience."
I've long felt sorry for Saul because he had his
inner demons, and he came to a bitter end. He's a tragic figure. II
Samuel 7:15 even goes so far as to say that God removed his mercy from
Saul. Does this call into question God's unconditional love for each
and every human being?
I like the themes of healing and
reconciliation. I would like to think that everyone, regardless of who
he or she is, will experience that. But some might think otherwise.
Alger Hiss, the man Nixon claimed was a Communist spy, said that Nixon
went to his grave with sins un-atoned for. Does believing in some
healing, reconciliation, or mercy in the afterlife entail assuming that
sin and whom it hurts does not matter, that God is a God of cheap
grace? I don't think so. Even a number of universalists will say that
there may be discipline and purgation of sin in the afterlife for those
who are in "hell." I believe, though, that it's a positive thing to
hope that people will arrive at a state of happiness, inner healing, and
reconciliation with others. We were born into this world, and some had
a harder road than others, which may have influenced how they turned
out. All of us had made poor choices, for different reasons. We all
need mercy and healing.