All she was thinking about, she tellsGlamour, was how she could meet the moment.
We need to be able to see and to appreciate the life experience of another human being.
They pay taxes and are good neighbors.
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They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.
Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.
Budde acknowledges that she could have chosen to not directly walk into the presidents ire.
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But she felt she couldnt.
Who else is going to say anything?
Who else could say anything in that moment about the people who are in greatest danger right now?
Glamour: You burst into the national spotlight last week.
How would you describe yourself to people just learning about you through your sermon?
Bishop Mariann Budde: My name is Mariann Budde.
So thats my day job.
So Im a grandma.
I have two little grandchildren who live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Youve spoken on large stages before in your capacity as bishop of Washington.
Going into the service, did you have a sense this one would be different?
It felt like a huge responsibility.
Obviously, the context would be very different depending on who won.
And then Trump won.
So I knew that was a completely different context, and so I took that to heart.
They are very familiar themes, not really controversial except in the moment that were in right now.
But you chose to take that leap.
What was that decision process like for you?
Its a very legitimate question.
So we typed it in, and it was pretty good.
I was like, Holy cow, this is something!
But as you said, it was innocuous.
Okay, well, first of all, what is unity?
I mean, how do we do that?
What do we need for that?
And what is it that we are trying to create?
I think thats something were all trying to figure out.
Prior to last week, I was sharing the sermon with people.
Whenever I have something that big, I ask for peoples input.
I was starting to feel like there was a missing piece.
It just wouldnt go away.
I thought if I appealed to him to have mercy, that it might land differently.
Trump responded, lets say, unkindly.
In fact, youre the latest woman who he has decided to call nasty.
Was this response something you expected?
I was kind of humbling myself before him.
Do you know what I mean?
I was being weak.
I was pleading with him, Im begging you to do this.
So I was half expecting that criticism, like, Why weren’t you stronger?
I think thats also the difference between hard power and soft power.
And one is typically very male coded and one is very female coded.
Obviously thats not accurate in every case.
How are you dealing with it?
A lot of it, I think, is internal work.
Eleanor Roosevelt said people can only steal your self-worth if you let them.
And thats a lifelong project.
You cant do an all-nighter for that.
Get whatever support you need, particularly if you feel called to leadership.
Cultivate the practices of leadership.
I didnt do that as well as they did.
I admire that and I want to support that.
And so thats the balance.
When you refer to the call, do you mean this past week?
Well, it is interesting that Im here.
I want to occupy this moment as gracefully as I can.
Its not going to last, right?
Im going to go back to my day job in about three days.
I have to be judicious because its not about me.
I mean, if it were about me, that would be really sad.
And theyre under attack right now.
There are a lot of people who are doing this work.
Im one of many, many people who are.
Theres been a lot of talk about how the so-calledresistanceto Trump is feeling hopeless and tapped out.
Yet so many people responded to your message.
How do we keep fighting?
First of all, I totally understand.
I do think that as human beings, we go through seasons of exhaustion.
We go through seasons of despair.
We go through times when hope feels lost.
That is the human experience.
But things happen in those seasons that we dont often pay attention to.
Things happen beyond our consciousness.
Seeds are being planted, there is fallow ground.
Its really important to have fallow time.
I would say, pay attention to the places where there is something that genuinely gives you energy again.
Not to force it, but be open to it.
Theres always a temptation to withdraw completely.
And for some people, that is the appropriate thing.
We dont have to do this on our own.
Its this kind of energy: the creative expansion, the muse.
All that energy is there for us, but we have to wait for it.
We cant evoke it on command.
But when it comes, trust it, and then dare to be a little brave.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
