From bipartisan cooperation to prayerful gratitude, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joins Drew Collins to reflect on joy, wisdom, and love of enemy in a divided nation—offering a vision of public service grounded in the way of Jesus. “Jesus defied expectations—he welcomed the stranger, he fed the hungry, he loved his enemies.” Together they discuss the role of faith in public life amid deep division. Reflecting on Jesus’s call to love our enemies and the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to “rejoice always,” she describes how Scripture, prayer, and gratitude sustain her work in the U.S. Senate. From bipartisan collaboration to the challenges of resisting an authoritarian executive branch, Gillibrand speaks candidly about the challenges of embodying gentleness and compassion in politics, consistently seeking spiritual solidarity with colleagues across the aisle. Drawing on Philippians 4, she testifies to the peace of God that transcends understanding, revealing a vision of political life animated by faith, courage, and joy—all in the spirit of hope, humility, and the enduring call to love in public service. Episode Highlights * “Faith is the greatest gift you could have. It grounds me; it reminds me why I’m here and what my life is supposed to be about.” * “We can disagree about public policy, but we don’t have to be in disagreement as people.” * “Jesus defied expectations—he welcomed the stranger, he fed the hungry, he loved his enemies.” * “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice… let your gentleness be evident to all.” * “I pray for wisdom every day. Scripture tells us if you ask for it, you will receive it—and boy do I need it.” About Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Gillibrand is the U.S. Senator from New York, serving since 2009. A graduate of Dartmouth College and UCLA Law School, she has focused her legislative career on ethics reform, national security, and family policy. Grounded in her Christian faith, she seeks to model bipartisan leadership and compassionate public service. For more information, visit [https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/](https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/). Helpful Links and Resources * [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+4%3A4-9&version=NRSVUE](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+4%3A4-9&version=NRSVUE) * [https://www.redeemer.com/](https://www.redeemer.com/) * [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gospel-in-life/id352660924](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gospel-in-life/id352660924) * [https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/chaplain/barry-black.htm](https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/chaplain/barry-black.htm) * [https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/](https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/) Faith and Division * Gillibrand describes America’s current political and social moment as deeply divided, weakened by retreat into ideological corners. * “We’re stronger when we work together—when people love their neighbors and care as if they were their own family.” * Faith offers grounding amid chaos; social media and tribalism breed extremism and hate. Following Jesus in Public Life * Faith clarifies her purpose and sustains her in political life. * “It makes everything make sense to me.” * Living “out of step with what’s cool, trendy, or powerful” defines Christian vocation in public office. Bipartisanship and Common Ground * Works with Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) on crypto regulation, Ted Cruz (R-TX) on first responder support, and Josh Hawley (R-MO) on stock trading bans. * “If I can restore some healthcare or Meals on Wheels, I’ll go that extra mile to do that good thing.” * Collaboration as moral practice—faith expressed through policy partnership. Loving Enemies and Welcoming Strangers * Draws parallels between Jesus’s ministry and bipartisan cooperation. * “He would sooner convert a Roman soldier than go to war with him.” * “If I went to a Democratic rally and said, ‘love your enemy,’ I don’t know how that would go over.” Testifying to Faith * Weekly Bible study with Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black. * “He told us: Testify to your blessings. Share what God is doing in your life.” * Posts daily blessings on social media, mixing joy and public witness. The Faith of Democrats * Counters perception that Democrats lack faith: “There are more ordained ministers and theology degrees on our side than people realize.” * Mentions Senators Tim Kaine, Chris Coons, Raphael Warnock, Amy Klobuchar, and Lisa Blunt Rochester, all of whom regularly meet and discuss their faith and its impact on public office. Faith and Policy Differences * On reproductive rights and LGBTQ equality: “It’s not the government’s job to discriminate.” * Frames Matthew 25 as central to Democratic faith—feeding, caring, welcoming. * Compares differing theological interpretations of government’s role in justice. Joy and Gratitude * Philippians 4 as daily anchor: “Rejoice in the Lord always… let your gentleness be evident to all.” * Keeps a five-year daily gratitude journal: “You rewire your brain to look for what is praiseworthy.” * Rejoicing doesn’t deny suffering; it transforms it into solidarity. Prayer and Wisdom * Prays constantly for family, colleagues, nation, and reconciliation. * “Wisdom’s usually the one thing I ask for myself.” * Prayer as discernment: deciding “where to put my voice, effort, and relationships.” Production Notes * This podcast featured Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. * Edited and Produced by Evan Rosa. * Hosted by Evan Rosa. * Production Assistance by Alexa Rollow and Emily Brookfield. * A Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School [https://faith.yale.edu/about](https://faith.yale.edu/about) * Support For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: [https://faith.yale.edu/give](https://faith.yale.edu/give)
From bipartisan cooperation to prayerful gratitude, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joins Drew Collins to reflect on joy, wisdom, and love of enemy in a divided nation—offering a vision of public service grounded in the way of Jesus.
“Jesus defied expectations—he welcomed the stranger, he fed the hungry, he loved his enemies.”
Together they discuss the role of faith in public life amid deep division. Reflecting on Jesus’s call to love our enemies and the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to “rejoice always,” she describes how Scripture, prayer, and gratitude sustain her work in the U.S. Senate.
From bipartisan collaboration to the challenges of resisting an authoritarian executive branch, Gillibrand speaks candidly about the challenges of embodying gentleness and compassion in politics, consistently seeking spiritual solidarity with colleagues across the aisle. Drawing on Philippians 4, she testifies to the peace of God that transcends understanding, revealing a vision of political life animated by faith, courage, and joy—all in the spirit of hope, humility, and the enduring call to love in public service.
Episode Highlights
About Kirsten Gillibrand
Kirsten Gillibrand is the U.S. Senator from New York, serving since 2009. A graduate of Dartmouth College and UCLA Law School, she has focused her legislative career on ethics reform, national security, and family policy. Grounded in her Christian faith, she seeks to model bipartisan leadership and compassionate public service. For more information, visit gillibrand.senate.gov.
Helpful Links and Resources
Faith and Division
Following Jesus in Public Life
Bipartisanship and Common Ground
Loving Enemies and Welcoming Strangers
Testifying to Faith
The Faith of Democrats
Faith and Policy Differences
Joy and Gratitude
Prayer and Wisdom
Production Notes
This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.
Evan Rosa: Coming soon to fourth, the Life of the World: Solo, a new podcast series.
Macie Bridge: Are you afraid of being alone? We've been told we are living within an epidemic of loneliness of the era. Has seen the age of loneliness approaches rapidly. If you didn't see it coming, you're not alone. This worldwide phenomenon has crept up on us rather silently.
And now it's here. I'm Macie Bridge, and starting October 15th, I'll be hosting a six episode series on solitude, loneliness, isolation, and other dimensions of being alone. It's nearly inevitable that we will all fly solo in some capacity at some point in our lives. And is the problem really the condition of being alone or are solitude and loneliness?
Two very different beasts. In this series, I'm asking the questions, in what ways are loneliness and solitude presenting themselves in our current time? How have Christians historically approached these experiences, and what questions should we as contemporary people of faith be asking of our own solitude and loneliness for ourselves and for each other?
I'm joined in these episodes by author and environmentalist, Laura Marris, sociologist Felicia Wu Song, medievalist, Hetta Howes, and medical doctor, Lydia Dugdale, and our very own Miroslav Volf. Each bring a rich and nuanced perspective to what is occurring in our world and how we might respond in faith.
So whether you're flying solo now or not, these questions are worth asking for the sake of our shared humanity. And if you're like me, you might even come away with some new convictions and ideas. So I hope you'll join me on October 15th and listen in as we all go solo.
Evan Rosa: From the Yale Center For Faith and Culture, this is for the life of the world. A podcast about seeking and living a life worthy of our humanity.
Kirsten Gillibrand: One of the most important things about my faith is that it grounds me and it reminds me why I am here and what my life is supposed to be about.
And so it guides me in how I live my life, how I reflect on hard problems, how I raise my children, how I'm a wife in my marriage, how I am a citizen of humanity. And it is so powerful and helpful because it makes everything makes sense. To me at least. It really is this clarifying understanding of where I fit in the world.
And that in and of itself is a freedom and is a a way to be encouraged and weighed up and be sustained that I think most people don't have. And that's why, to me, faith is the greatest gift you could have. And the more and more I learn about my faith, understand its teachings, understand who Jesus was and what his role was on this.
Earth. I am so much more empowered to be kinder, to be more loving, to be more inclusionary, to be more grace-filled, to be more gentle, to be more patient. I mean things that are not known for politicians. So it is really pushing me to be a very different person than is the norm for a politician in America today.
And that's a good thing because those are all the things that make me sane. It's the things that allow me to continue to serve the public. It allows me to not give up. 'cause there's a lot of days where I would definitely wanna give up. And so it's sustaining. It's remarkable because it allows me to understand the moments I'm in from a very different perspective.
Evan Rosa: I'm Evan Rosa with the Yale Center For Faith and Culture. American political theater portrayed by the media or elevated in social media algorithms usually offers more opportunities for cynicism than hope. And from the perspective of a Christian orientation toward the world, how might we understand the command to rejoice always given today's political climate?
How could this grounded Christian way of being be expressed, say in the work of a US Senator? And what would become of the collective political polarization if the primary tools of public office were to rejoice, always pray without ceasing and remain grateful regardless of circumstance. In today's conversation, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joins Drew Collins to talk about how her faith drives her public service and.
The moral and political commitments she advocates for on behalf of the American people. Together, they discuss political division and the unifying potential of faith, the loss of empathy through social media and other cultural trends. Jesus' love for the stranger and the enemy, the stereotype that the Democratic Party is secular or anti-Christian.
Matthew 25. As a scriptural basis for compassionate public policy, our current hopes for reconciliation and love amid division and the constant. Prayerfulness that she brings with her as a US Senator. Thanks for listening today.
Drew Collins: Senator Gillibrand, thank you so much for joining us. Very happy to see you.
Kirsten Gillibrand: Thank you, drew. I'm very excited to be on your podcast.
Drew Collins: This is great. And so I wanted to start with just a temperature check question. We are going through, um, a interesting political and social moment in our country right now, and I'm just wondering if you could share your thoughts.
How would you describe the current political and social moment?
Kirsten Gillibrand: I think unfortunately, the country's very divided, and that's a very weak place for our country to be in. We're always stronger when we work together, when people try to understand one another, when we love our neighbor, when we care about one another, as if they were our only.
Our own family members. That's where you want to bring your country. And I think with the rise of social media, with rise of even cable television over the last two decades, people have retreated to their corners and they are constantly fed information and content that makes them more and more. Pushed into that corner, and it unfortunately breeds extremism, it breeds hate, it breeds division, and that's very unhealthy ultimately for our democracy
Drew Collins: in this moment of great social divide and uh, and antagonism.
It strikes me, on the one hand, our faith could really play an important role in bringing us together and uniting, uniting us. Absolutely. As I'm sure you're aware, it is often not wielded in that way, and I wanted to ask you, one of the things that I notice when a lot of politicians speak about their faith is that it often aligns incredibly perfectly with the platform of their political party and without questioning the sincerity of their faith.
It strikes me that this is something that we all do in different ways. We sort of instrumentalize our faith to get to the ends that we want to see. In the world and for me, one of the most important indicators that I'm following Jesus are the moments when I'm out of step, not just with the crowd, but with the crowd
Kirsten Gillibrand: or even out of step with this world.
Drew Collins: Yes, absolutely. So because we are
Kirsten Gillibrand: not of this world, we are of his world, and that's. Living in that way more intentionally. You're very outta step with what's cool, what's trendy, what's powerful, what's, uh, popular. Yeah. Sometimes. Sometimes. Yeah,
Drew Collins: exactly. And so I was wondering where do you feel that the, that kind of tension these days, the tension between there's sort of political and social perspective and your life as a follower of Jesus?
Kirsten Gillibrand: Lemme just take a step back. I think one of the most important things about my faith is that it grounds me and it reminds me why I am here and what my life is supposed to be about. And so it guides me in how I live my life, how I reflect on hard problems, how I raise my children, how I'm a wife in my marriage, um, how I am a citizen of humanity.
And it. So powerful and helpful because it makes everything, makes sense to me at least. It really is this clarifying understanding of where I fit in the world and that in and of itself is a freedom and is a a way to be encouraged and void up and be sustained that I think most people don't have, and that's why.
To me, faith is the greatest gift you could have. And the more and more I learn about my faith, understand its teachings, understand who Jesus was and what his role was on this earth. I am so much more empowered to be kinder, to be more loving, to be more inclusionary, to be more grace filled, to be more.
Gentle to be more patient. Things that are not known for politicians. So it is really pushing me to be a very different person than is the norm for a politician in America today. And that's a good thing because those are all the things that make me sane. It's the things that allow me to continue to serve the public.
It allows me to not give up. 'cause there's a lot of days where I would definitely wanna give up. And it's sustaining and it's really, it's remarkable because it allows me to understand the moments I'm in from a different, very different perspective.
Drew Collins: Are there any places where you feel like recently that perspective has been on display clearly for you, where your faith actually did make a difference in talking about these sort of contemporary issues, pressing issues with your democratic colleagues?
Kirsten Gillibrand: Okay. Back to your original issue, you know, we can be. In disagreement about public policy, but we don't have to be in disagreement as people. We, we don't have to be. Ill willed towards one another. And so one of the things that I really enjoy about, uh, my, my public service is that I always try to reach across the aisle to do things on a bipartisan basis.
And it doesn't matter if I disagree with a politician on many, many issues about how to run the country and where are our civil rights and where does individuality and freedom start, and all those very big questions. But I will always find common ground with no matter who. I am working with, and you'd be surprised, or at least Democrat grassroots supporters would be deeply surprised at some of the conservative senators that I found common ground with.
So I've been working with Cynthia Lamis, who's a very conservative senator from Wyoming on regulating cryptocurrency, blockchain, stable coins. We're writing. Very complex legislation about how to use both commodities laws and securities laws to regulate a brand new industry. That's been very time consuming, but very rewarding 'cause we're trying to create rules of the road.
We're trying to actually create regulation so that we don't have a lack of consumer protection, and so we can protect US financial services. Markets so that we can allow more access to capital for unbanked and underbanked. So there's a lot of shared values in there. And then I work with people as conservative as Ted Cruz, uh, and I work with Josh Hawley on banning stock trading.
Ted and I work on things to help. Public servants, particularly first responders, be able to survive the times they're in. And so you just find that piece of common ground regardless of any expectation by perhaps the base of your own party that wants everything to be obstructed and want no agreement and no collaboration.
They just want. A no on everything, always. But my instinct and why I feel I am, uh, a public servant to begin with is to help people. And so if I can help someone, if I can restore some healthcare or restore some money for Meals on Wheels, uh, or for affordable housing in my state, I'm going to go that extra mile to try to do that good thing.
Drew Collins: That's really interesting and, um, it strikes me that what you've just described is something very real and, and, and obviously very important to, to life in America and to the continuation of our democracy. And, but it's under attended to, it's under reported. Oh, for sure. Kind of stuff, right? Um, as you say, it's scandalous in some ways for, to a lot of people on both sides.
This sort of, we've gone from a place where bipartisanship was maybe the hope to now where it's as as much a problem for a lot of people and there's a lot of parallels there, I think with the gospels. You know, what is shocking and scandalous about Jesus is not just his gospel, but it's with whom he shared the gospel.
Kirsten Gillibrand: Well, that's lesson number one. So he shared the gospel first with the Jews. Then he shared it with non-Jews. He shared it with people. Without that tradition, he always wanted his apostles to welcome a stranger. He wanted us, he wanted them to work with. The Samaritan, he wanted them to work with the people who were rejected by society in that era, Uhhuh.
And he never would fall into the tropes of his era that they wanted him to. They wanted him to be a revolutionary against Rome. No, that wasn't his calling. In fact, he would sooner convert a Roman soldier then go to war with that Roman soldier. So he defined expectations at the time. Certainly and continues to divide expectations by really pushing people to do the thing they don't wanna do, to welcome the stranger, to feed the hungry, to nurse the, the wounded or the ill, like he, he really pushed us in so many parts of the gospel to help those who need help no matter who they are, and to love them as if you're, they're your neighbor to, to love your enemy.
I mean, these are really striking sentiments and if I went to a. Democratic rally and I said, love your enemy. Boy, I don't know that I would be received as the speaker of truth in that moment because people are so hurt. They're so angry, they're so outraged and, and rightfully so, and righteously. So when people are being denied their dignity, being denied their basic rights, their basic humanity, when people are being disregarded and marginalized and people aren't.
Being given the things they need to survive, like healthcare or food or housing. They have a right to be angry and demand a response, but I don't think the successful response is going to be burn down. I think the successful response is find allies. Who will eventually stand up to Trump Uhhuh. 'cause at the end of the day, if our democracy's gonna work, we're gonna need Republicans who join us in stopping Trump.
That is the only way until we have a majority, which I'm also working on to, you know, make sure we have more voices that share our views and so we could actually. Legislate in a new Congress, but interim, the best way to defeat things that you don't like about a particular person in charge or a particular policy is to find more allies that support your view, that can unwind it or undo it or fix it.
Drew Collins: Yeah, I mean, I'm loving your enemy. He's, he's with the poor and the destitute and then he's with the Pharisees and Roman, Roman Legionnaires. And you know, just as soon as you think you've got him pegged as to who his people are, he Jesus,
Kirsten Gillibrand: he'll convert someone new. Yeah, yeah,
Drew Collins: that's right.
Kirsten Gillibrand: And the minister to that person and yeah, there for that person and help that person.
Drew Collins: It's a sort of background. Aspect of Jesus's ministry and his love, and it's something that, it's different than concrete shared political projects and area avenue. Oh, we can work on this, we can work on that. There's a sort of social vision there. Um, for who, who we are to God and to one another that I don't think we've ever been very good at in inhabiting and realizing, but it feels particularly.
Absent and distant right now, given that this is difficult messaging for elected officials in light of what the, their constituents and their base may be expect, how do you think we can start to bring some of this, the love of Jesus, that that defies all these boundaries into greater view, into to invite other people, our con your constituents and, and our, you know, our fellow citizens into a vision of a different way of living together.
Kirsten Gillibrand: I think. It's important to testify to what you believe. One of the Bible studies that I go to where Chaplain Black, the chaplain of the Senate leads maybe five or six senators in Bible study. Every week he gives us a weekly homework assignment, and this homework assignment two weeks ago was to testify about your blessings, testify about everyday miracles in your life, share.
You know what? God's doing in your life more openly. And so I started doing daily blessings on my social media account and I've probably failed maybe seven or eight of 'em, but, uh, it's at least a start, but really testifying to what God does in your life on a daily basis to, um, make the world a better place and to help others and to try to share.
What your perspective is to more people. I feel very comfortable sharing my faith, particularly in church settings. So I like to go to churches across New York State on Sunday mornings and many churches will give you five minutes to talk or seven minutes to talk, whatever it is. And I usually give a very many sermon, which I love doing.
It's just, it's just pure joy. 'cause I get to mix the two things. I like public service with my faith. But outside of that, it's kind of hard. It's kind of hard to find those moments where you can bring in something that you care so deeply about and that defines who you are in a way that doesn't upset, offend, or somehow create a barrier between you and your constituents.
'cause they may not share that faith, they may not share. Even an interest in any faith. And so it's hard to find these moments that are appropriate that I can share and also testify.
Drew Collins: Yeah. I'm glad we can give you at least one here.
Kirsten Gillibrand: Yeah, exactly. Which is why I was so excited when you invited me to do your podcast.
Drew Collins: On the one hand, I, I'm very conscious of the sort of trope of, um, the Republicans as the, as the party of Christianity. The Democrats is not, and and I know I've heard you speak very forcefully, but challenging that narrative and outlining the, just the demographic reality of elect democratic elected officials and senators, people like Reverend Warnock and others who are ordained and very active Christians and Democrats,
Kirsten Gillibrand: but even like Tim Kane or Chris Coons, they both have, uh, degrees in theology.
Uh, they also come to our week weekly. Prayer breakfast and have run the prayer breakfast during different years. Angus King comes regularly. Amy Klobuchar comes regularly, and Maggie Hassan and Lisa Blunt Rochester, and sometimes Angela also Brooks. So we have a good. Seven or eight senators that spend at least an hour a week focused on their faith and sharing their faith with their colleagues.
So that's a good sign as well, that it's much more prevalent than people think.
Drew Collins: Yeah, that's right. And it's important to, it's important to, to narrate those into and to share those, but at the same time I do, I, I am curious to hear your thoughts on why that perception persists. And how you think it can be sort of best challenge in undermine, uh,
Kirsten Gillibrand: I don't know why it persists.
Um, well, no, I probably do know why it persists. I think the issues of reproductive rights and L-G-B-T-Q equality became very important issues from a lot of pulpits. And so there was an assumption that if you are. Not a certain view on those issues that you're therefore not Christian. And I just don't think that's true.
And it's something that certainly Democrats who are Christian view very differently than Republicans who are Christian, but it's kind of a bright line and for many churches and many places, they who are there are very determined bright lines. It's it, I think that's the issue that com, that makes it more difficult for Democrats to be seen as faith-driven.
Drew Collins: Without abandoning your beliefs and your commitments, social, political, theological, how do you think about reaching across that divide and speaking to people who do see issues like that differently than you do and who might continue to see those issues differently?
Kirsten Gillibrand: Well, here's another dividing line.
Democrats who are Christians believe that Matthew 25 should inform our public work. So we believe we should feed the poor. We believe we should care about the elderly. The at we, the at risk, um, the immigrant, the stranger, the socially deprived, or what's the word, just. Opportunities or just the downtrodden, whatever way you wanna frame it.
The people at most, at need, most at risk. We feel it's our job to serve them. Um, many people who I talk to who are faith driven in the Republican party just believe that's not the job of government. So they make a ideological. View that that's not government's job. Why? Whereas I might make the same ideological view on reproductive rights or LGBTQ equality.
Mm-hmm. It's not the government's job to discriminate. Or to take away civil, civil rights. So they made, we, each side have made our choice about what part's not the government's job. You know, we look to scripture to inform that question, but it's definitely the blurry line. And it's funny, when I used to attend a church in New York City called Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and the pastor was Tim Keller, he, I remember one sermon he gave where he said.
Both parties are wrong. He was just like, they both don't have it quite right. 'cause one is too much of justice and the other is too much. Two different kinds of justice and one social justice and the other is criminal justice or however he framed it. But he really went into this notion that both parties have blind spots that they should address.
And I just thought that was. Very buffle of him to realize that nobody's perfect and we all sort of have not been able to use our faith in the way that is most the way Jesus would want us to. Yeah. Like it should be informing everything we do as people, as humans. Right. Yeah. And, and be very sort of God-centered.
So I, I liked the admonishment of that one sermon and I heard it like definitely, well before I was ever in elected office. I've since heard it again 'cause I listened to the podcast. Yeah. From Gospel and Life.
Drew Collins: That's a great podcast. You know, we are gonna disagree about things. We are gonna. Understand the implications of our faith in different ways and work those out.
The best we can do is show our work to each other, and what I hear you doing is, listen, I'm gonna explain to you how I arrived at this position, how my faith informs that. Mm-hmm. And inviting the people on the other side to do the same. Yep. And that's, that's what politics actually looks like.
Kirsten Gillibrand: Well, Marsha Blackburn and I together are working on childcare just to make sure childcare is more affordable for more people.
And that's common grounds. So no matter where you might be on reproductive rights, if you focus on the life of the children and focus on the wellbeing of the family, that's common ground. And that's where we can do good things together.
Drew Collins: Yeah, that's so helpful. You know, one of the ways in which.
Christianity has become associated with the right and disassociated with the left. And particularly these days, you know, I'm thinking about the recent memorial for Charlie Kirk and, and there's, and a lot of the Trump rallies and. There's a lot of exuberance and you, you know, you could say joy maybe in these sort of conservative religious, uh, moments, they find a way of engaging with their faith in a way that, although there's a lot of fear mongering and so there's a lot of rejoicing and sort of celebration.
You hear Trump rallies described as sort of parties in a way, right? That was certainly true, I think of Obama rallies and things like that. Once upon a time, understandably, I don't see a lot of rejoicing and joy being communicated and shared in democratic circles and, and, and context. Heard. My supervi, my PhD supervisor, David Ford, who's a British theologian, he came here to Yale and he said the most scandalous thing in the Christian tradition is Paul's commandment to rejoice always.
Yeah. And in a time when in our country where everyone agrees so much is going wrong, even as we disagree vociferously about what it is that's going wrong and how we should fix it, what does the commandment to rejoice always mean to you in this particular moment?
Kirsten Gillibrand: I love the quote from Philippians.
Rejoice in the Lord. Always. I say it again, rejoice. And that starts out a very important piece of scripture about how you should live your life. And so because of that scripture, I keep a daily journal and I keep. A gratitude journal. So every day I write down the things that I was most grateful for in that day, and I've been keeping that journal now for five years, every day.
And so it's really helped me to rejoice in the Lord always, and that the rest of that scripture's also really important because it tells you about. What the things you're supposed to think about. So to constantly through prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, give your request to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding.
You'll be, you'll be given that. So it's very powerful. And so when my, in fact, when my mother-in-law passed, we put that scripture on her angel statue that we had installed for her because I think it's such a great lesson for the world to constantly remember. So I'm gonna read the whole thing. Rejoice in the Lord always.
I will say it again. Rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
And then the last verse, finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is. Admirable. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put into practice and the God of peace will be with you.
So that is like your lesson for life. If you could read that scripture literally every day and remind yourself that it is through gratitude, it is through Let your gentleness be every E evident to all. By thinking about everything that's excellent and praiseworthy, you're gonna rewire your brain to be looking for the good things around you, not the bad things around you.
You'll be looking for what is praiseworthy every day, and it's exactly how you can. Answer the anxiety of this moment, the fact that people are so deeply anxious about the future and about their families and about their children, and about whether their children will have opportunities and whether they'll have the same chances that you had.
These are like the daily anxieties of any parent, and if you give those requests to God. You do receive peace. You absolutely do receive peace. And that's how I literally survive in this job, in this moment. And so it, it is so important to recognize that God wants us to recognize the goodness in our life every day.
He wants us to be very aware of what we should be grateful for, what our daily blessings are. What. Happened that was really made a difference to you. And even if you're suffering, God wants us to rejoice every day through our suffering because those sufferings are trials that make us stronger. It makes us stronger people.
It makes us better servants. It makes us understand humanity because every human suffers in some way at some time, and that binds us as humans so that we will love our neighbors, that we will care about one another. So I think you're right. You know that scripture rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again.
Rejoice so instructive about that. We should be grateful. Yeah. And if we are grateful, then we can see the goodness in others.
Drew Collins: Yeah. And do more. I think it, it is, it it, I think it, as you say, it's might of quiet or something like that, where the idea to rejoice is to say everything's fine and dandy and we're all good.
And that's certainly not how Jesus lived and that's not how his followers lived. They were rejoicing always as they were. Feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and, and doing all those things, and you can do those at the same time. You know, Jesus also says, rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.
Kirsten Gillibrand: Yeah.
Drew Collins: And it strikes me, we can do those things at the same time.
Kirsten Gillibrand: And Jesus did. I mean his life. We saw him weep. We saw him mourn with the people he loved.
Drew Collins: Yeah. Yeah. So I know we're almost outta time. I heard that the buzzer, it just means the
Kirsten Gillibrand: vote's been called, but it's okay. We got time.
Drew Collins: I wanted to ask you a more personal question.
Your prayer life, what are you praying for these days?
Kirsten Gillibrand: So I have very long prayers and I have prayers all day long. So I pray all the time. I pray for my family. Mostly 'cause I really, as a mother, I, my, I'm fixated on the wellbeing of my family, my children, my husband, my parents constantly praying for the people around me to survive, to thrive, to get through whatever challenges they have.
I pray for my colleagues. I pray for the Senate that we actually can help people and do things. I'm constantly praying for people to turn aside their. They're, they're darker sides or they're demons and really look towards the light and look towards goodness, and look towards what's possible. And I want people to do things that help others.
Um, I want our country to be stronger and a more loving, more kind, more prosperous nation because they are united. I, I pray for reconciliation constantly. For the, for humanity, it's important that we can move forward positively towards one another, especially in these very sad, divisive times. And I pray for wisdom.
Wisdom is probably the center of most of my prayers because I do have to make decisions every day, and I do have to decide where to put my voice, where to put my effort. What relationship to build, how to bring people together, how to get things done for my state. And so I'm constantly praying for wisdom because the scripture tells us if you ask for it, you will receive it.
And boy do I need it. Wisdom's usually the one thing I ask for myself. Um, wisdom and patience. Um. I do think we have to pray for our nation and pray for the wellbeing of our country and what the wellbeing of our neighbors.
Drew Collins: Well, I will be praying for you and for our nation for those things especially, and I just wanna thank you so much for taking the time to do this with us.
Kirsten Gillibrand: Well, thank you so much, drew. I. Appreciate you very much
Evan Rosa: for the life of the world as a. Production of the Yale Center For Faith and Culture at Yale Divinity School. This episode featured Kirsten Gillibrand, interviewed by Drew Collins, production assistance by Alexa Rollow and Emily Brookfield. Special thanks to the staff in the office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, including Rachel, Landy, Evan, Zoe, and Anna.
I'm Evan Rosa and I edit and produce the show.
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