The ancient Holy Grail Legend of the Fisher King came to mind recently as I’ve been thinking of our national and indeed global predicament.  In the legend, the Knight on his quest for the Holy Grail comes to a castle, where he finds a wounded king.  However, he fails to ask the king about his wound or his suffering.  He leaves and is chastised for his lack of concern.  When he returns to the castle and asks the king about his suffering, the wound is healed, and the Grail is revealed.  (There are many different versions of this tale, and I’m selecting the one most relevant to us now.)
Is Donald Trump the Fisher King?

Are all of us surrounding him – journalists, protesters, supporters, confidantes and inner circle ­– some variations on the Grail Knight, failing at our task?

The Fisher King’s healing depends on others.  The point of the legend is that we all depend on each other for healing and everything else in life.  The most important way we heal each other is caring for each other’s well being.  What I notice is that nearly all the commentary about the president is critical.  Distinguished psychiatrists writing to the New York Times battle it out, labeling the president with all kinds of undesirable traits, diagnosing him from a distance, or arguing with each other.  (See this, this, and this and this Op-Ed by Dr. Richard Friedman "Is it time to call Trump Mentally Ill?".)

I think we are missing the point.  Diagnosis can be critique, not helpful at all.  My last blog post (“Compassion for Trump?”) suggested that instead of simply viewing President Trump as an enemy, or saying “something’s wrong with you, dude” we might consider what it would be like to expand our circle of compassion to include him and his circle.  There are alternatives to stewing in our own turmoil of anger, resentment, blame games, hostility, fear and insecurity (which actually mirrors what the other side is likely experiencing as well).  Instead of being aggrieved, we could heal, ourselves and others.

Perhaps we all need to ask the Grail question to each other, and even to Donald.

“Donald, are you okay?”

Or in New York speak – “Hey, Don – how you doin’?”

We are all in this together.  Whatever suffering one person experiences, we all feel in some way.