Spent some time this morning thinking about the 7 Deadly Sins - lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.

As I read, it occurred to me that, in effect, I was reading a list of the characteristics of both Trump and his presidency.

There's so much analysis of Trump's psyche - but I think we've missed the most basic thing. His life is motivated by these seven sins.

He's like a walking lesson in Christian moral ethics of what NOT to do.

The personal aspects of this are pretty obvious - but each one has also manifested itself in policy decisions and political choices through the last four years.

While they've always been dangerous, it is easier to see how they are deadly.

Trump's deeply twisted envy of President Obama led to an entire series of terrible, malformed decisions that has made us unprepared for this moment -- and made this worse than it might otherwise been.

Anyway, sin. Deadly sin.

The moral curative for envy is gratitude.

What if Trump had understood that the work of Obama's team - w/its many experts & scientists - was a gift to the next president to ease potential crises & provide for the health & well-being of citizens?

Instead of envy, thank you.

But envy doesn't work that way. It seeks to destroy, inflict pain, desiring that the one deemed a "hero" by others suffers - because you want what that hero has and you fear you will never get it.

The envious must rid of the person envied no matter the cost.

The cost of Trump's envy has been staggeringly high. And will be higher. Of all the sins, envy has the highest social cost. Many note that it is the one sin that brings the least pleasure, with its own malevolence the reward. Thus, it is arguably the most politically deadly.

Today, pursue envy's opposite: gratitude. As we seek out what it means to live gratefully with and for one another in this crisis, we can renew our communities, open the way for true healing.

(The writer-me thinks one could do a biography of Trump with each of those sins as the chapter titles...)