“I think she would be a terrific preacher. She knows her Bible, and she loves people and she loves God.”
The rumbling never went away, and it is seemingly bubbling just below the surface, poised to crack wide open. Last year, the Hillary Clinton email probe was emitting all kinds of hot air and guff, especially when it went before Congress and Representative Trey Gowdy, R–SC. The sparring was absolute. The coyness of Hillary was beyond palpable. I still recall the stoic volleys of “I don’t recall.”
If you are praying that any and all of this clears up soon, there’s a preacher who may be praying for the same thing but for different reasons.
She kind of preached to be the US president while exhibiting little, if any, presidential material qualities and virtues. We all know how far “her message” went. Some of it was bleached away while much lingers still.
A book authored by pastor and “Clinton family spiritual advisor” Reverend Bill Shillady is reportedly predicated on 365 daily devotionals purportedly written expressly for Hillary. He claims the idea was born of Obama spiritual adviser Joshua DuBois, otherwise dubbed “pastor-in-chief,” who wrote scripture, reflections, songs, and prayer devotionals for Barack. Are you ready for the nudge?
Hillary Clinton wishes to be a preacher! Yep, Hillary desires to preach … on a pulpit, in a spiritual tone.
Backstory
Rev. Shillady, who is executive director of the United Methodist City Society overseeing all United Methodist churches, claims he had a conversation with Hillary when he and Hillary recently got together for his book’s photo shoot. During that time, Shillady claims Hillary uttered, “Bill, I think I’d like to do some preaching.” Surprised by Hillary’s suggestion, Rev. Shillady replied “Oh, really? Are you serious?”
“I am,” Hillary replied to Rev. Shillady. He expounded that in the Methodist philosophy, sans-seminary laity take to the pulpit and just preach, like a politician does before a crowd of folks waiting to hear a message.
Although I was raised in faith and believe in the virtue of forgiveness, sometimes it is difficult to let go of past hurt, pain, and deception.
Rev. Shillady boasts, “I think she would be a terrific preacher. She knows her Bible, and she loves people and she loves God.” Somehow, his assertions do not add up to a woman who admitted that she wanted to say, “Back off, you creep!” during the presidential debates with then-Republican candidate Donald Trump. That surely does not have spiritual tone to it. To be fair, that was a year ago, and perhaps she has repented for possessing ill-willed sentiments.
From first lady to politician to church lady, Mrs. Clinton may have another hat to hang at the continually-controversial Clinton Foundation.
We shall see what Hillary’s spiritual adviser has instilled in her.
Of his presidential-nominee phase preachings, Rev. Shillady says he was a guiding light in times when the campaign trail got rough for Mrs. Clinton. “It helped her to stay focused on the values that were important to her, and have been since she grew up in her Methodist faith: justice and dignity, compassion and love,” Rev. Shillady explained. Justice? Those wheels are still turning and she sees them over her shoulder.
So Much Repentance
Lately, Benghazi is back in the news. Folks want confirmation of what they believe to be Hillary’s complicit role in that shameful episode in American history. The Benghazi chapter is being viewed again, with chatter about the State Department being ordered to re-search its own database for additional emails relating to Hillary Clinton’s role at that time. Thanks to another Judicial Watch FOIA request, a federal judge mandated a renewed database search.
“Though the department reviewed the 30,000 emails Clinton turned over, the tens of thousands turned over by Clinton’s top three aides, and those submitted by the FBI, the State Department never searched its own records. This failure, Judicial Watch argues, can’t be allowed to stand,” the Daily Wire published. Something still stinks and there are no sardines in sight.
There’s also been talk (Newsmax) about a clandestine-sounding “plea bargain” offered to Hillary, made by a “high-ranking” Department of Justice official. Reportedly, Ed Klein, who has written several books about the Clintons, claims a “trusted” confidante’ and “Clinton attorney” says she’ll never take a plea deal and, instead, will likely step into the ring and slug it out. Good, those gloves have been waiting for another round. I clamor for a ringside seat. It’d be reassuring to see her pay-for-play schemes Live on pay-per-view.
Interestingly, the alleged plea bargain sought to completely exonerate Mrs. Clinton in exchange for admitting guilt for her role in the email scandal. Does that sound real to you? What is the purpose of a band-aid when you have a gaping, hemorrhaging laceration bleeding all over the American flag and millions of citizens who hold it dearly?
Although I was raised in faith and believe in the virtue of forgiveness, sometimes it is difficult to let go of past hurt, pain, and deception. As I write this piece and conduct the research to ensure fact-based material, an advertisement popped up in the right margin. It read, “Should Trump Put Hillary in Jail?” That is a dose of daily irony!
If I were writing this article with a quill pen, my ink well would have dried up. I was stupefied by the preponderance of a person’s theological philosophies while at the same time tip-toeing among the pieces she brokered equating to a potential indictment. No less important are the still unanswered questions surrounding the loss of American lives among our diplomatic diligence on Benghazi terrain.
Also in my research endeavors, a “Hillary for Prison” credo keeps cropping up. The email scandal. Bleach bit trails. Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch airplane rendezvous. FBI collusion to help preserve the aforementioned tarmac chat. Benghazi disaster and cover-up. That severely blemished beat goes on.
Emails, Emails, Emails
Of particular note in his recently-released book, Rev. Shillady included email exchanges between himself and Hillary.
Emails, emails, emails.
In one of those emails, Rev. Shillady wrote a prayer for Hillary. That exact devotional is now the subject of a plagiarism charge. Reportedly, the material Hillary’s reverend sent her was verbatim from what was written by another man of the cloth: Indiana-based Pastor Matt Deuel who contends his March 2016 blog post is the direct withdrawal Rev. Shillady used in his book without attribution to Deuel.
For his faux pas, Rev. Shillady admits the oversight in a statement published by The Washington Post:
“My entire approach to this book project has been to credit all of the many ministers and sources who contributed to the devotionals that were written for Hillary over the course of the campaign. In preparing the devotional on the morning of November 9, I was determined to provide comfort with the familiar adage that ‘It’s Friday But Sunday is Coming.’
“I searched for passages that offered perspective of this theme. I am now stunned to realize the similarity between Matt Deuel’s blog sermon and my own. Clearly, portions of my devotional that day incorporate his exact words. Matt and I have spoken. He was extremely gracious and understanding. I have assured him he will receive full credit moving forward.”
Cobbled together by their publishing venture, Rev. Shillady and his book publisher took responsibility. Although the book is already in-print and nothing can be corrected, Abingdon Press editor-in-chief, Mary Catherine Dean assured any potential book-seekers: “His failure to attribute portions of the November 9 devotional does not change the fact that the 365 passages in the book were sent to Hillary Clinton are part of the historical record of her campaign, and gave her the inspiration to stay strong.”
Mrs. Clinton was already getting her preach on at the Foundry United Methodist Church in September 2015. At Foundry, hashtag #wepraywithher was born. It encompasses a group of clergywomen who “honor women who have broken glass ceilings for them” and who were collectively a “part of an editorial team sending devotions during Clinton’s campaign for U.S. president.”
It appears Hillary Clinton is their beacon.
Interested in her message? Do you think she turned a corner recently? Or is she branding herself a post-politicized theocratic Democrat or some kind of pulpit politician?
