A spring bouquet is coming to St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie
Melania is of slighter build and thinner than she appears. She was wearing what looked to me like an ivory-colored, double-breasted coat dress.
The Trumps arrived 10 or 15 minutes early for the 11 a.m. service at St. John's, and I did not see them enter the church and never saw her face.
They sat almost shoulder-to-shoulder in the "President's Pew" (where all presidents sit when they attend St. John's) with a woman (Secret Service?) at the end of the row. Trump leaned over and exchanged pleasantries with the woman from time to time, and she smiled.
He never took off his (dark blue or black) overcoat during the service, at least while I was there. (I left the service early since I had already attended the 9 a.m. service, but I wanted to see the Trumps at 11 a.m. since word traveled fast at church that they were coming this morning!)
When he first sat down, Mr. Trump looked all around the church, up, down, and straight ahead. The Trumps struck me as lovey-dovies (!) since they, or rather he exchanged words often with his wife, leaning over towards her several times before the service began. She sat ramrod straight.
From my vantage point five rows back, I could not really see Melania since someone had the nerve to sit in front of me (!) and block my view, but I could easily see Trump.
He is a big man.
At first, I do not think he sang the hymns, but towards the end, he may have been singing with the rest of us.
He held the bulletin with the hymns in front of him and looked down, and I think I saw his mouth moving. However, in true Episcopalian fashion, he may have just been mouthing the words or barely whispering them. We don't have much of a reputation for singing in the pews.
Until my view was blocked, I do not think she sang.
The Rev. Bruce McPherson, the interim rector, delivered a sermon about St. Patrick (Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody!) and the obligations we have as Christians to speak up against hate speech, no matter where we are, what line we are standing in, or who is around us. He said this was hard to do, and admitted he had passed up many opportunities himself, but in the wake of New Zealand, we need to speak up.
It takes courage, he said, but that is what leadership is about.
At the beginning of his sermon, he said something about a fox which, he said, does not have the connotation now that it had then.
It was the same sermon the Rev. McPherson gave at 9 a.m. so there was no hidden meaning for the Trumps, like I suppose some might suspect.
When you are the center of attention and are used to lecturing those around you rather than being a listener, I imagine the roles are hard to swap.
After two or three minutes of the sermon (about 15 minutes long, in the usual Episcopalian tradition), Trump seemed to fidget a little, looking a little left, a little right, and for a half-second, I wondered if he would get up and march out, but soon he became enamored by the content, as were the rest of us, and he listened.
There were no sounds. Everyone was glued to Rev. McPherson's words. Including at least one of the three agents who sat in the row behind the president and Mrs. Trump.
From the pulpit, Rev. McPherson said that he admired the Islamic faith, and he quoted this line from Islam: "You are God, and I am not."
It was an excellent sermon, and I hope we all go out and follow Rev. McPherson's advice.
Every Sunday at church when we say out loud "the Prayers of the People," the same lines are said: We pray for "Donald, our president," members of the U.S. Congress and the Supreme Court, and peoples of nations who are experiencing extreme difficulties, such as those in Venezuela and in New Zealand.
During silent prayers today, someone said out loud (which anyone can do but it is rare in the silent Episcopalian custom for anyone to say out loud anything alone at St. John's), "we pray for Donald and our nation."
Before the Trumps arrived, the Secret Service brought in the dogs to scope out the place, but I was at a meeting upstairs and missed them, which I really wanted to see! Maybe, the next time.
Rather than orange, I would call Donald's hair color, suntanned blonde. If you have seen her photos lately, you have noticed the blonde streaks in Melanie's hair.
Were you there? What else can you add? Maybe it's not appropriate for me to write about their "personal time" at church, but the way I look at it, anytime the President of the United States goes public, it's our, the people's, time.
patricialesli@gmail.com
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