I get my best ideas when vacuuming. I am not sure whether it is the repetitive cleansing motion, the sound of circulated air or a combination of the two, but somehow it jiggles my brain into thinking the most astounding thoughts.

As I was maneuvering the German-engineered machine around my kitchen this morning, my thoughts wandered to the political landscape in the United States. Pushing the nozzle under a chair, I observed an incredible thought crawl through my mind as the vacuum cleaner swept up my latest breakfast crumbs from the floor.

What if Donald J. Trump’s soul had made a pact with God before entering the planet? What if he agreed to play a role that would shake the rest of humanity to its core? What if he consented to be the person who would show us all what the dark side of ourselves looked like?

Hitler. Mussolini. Stalin. The wretchedness of man is nothing new.

And as I later motored down the highway with my 19-year-old daughter, talking politics and hopelessness, vision and dreams, I admitted that if I were to hate anyone, it might be him. But then, as I slowed down the car to move through the narrow lane around the road under construction, I halted my speech to revise my confession.

“No, I cannot hate anyone. Not even him. For he has shown us all what ugliness is.” And what a gift that can be to be presented with a chance to choose beauty over repulsiveness. Peace over war. Love over hate. What an opportunity it is to reveal the darkness and to stand before the choice of light instead in a moment of free will.

And if God were involved in that pact He had made with a man so powerful wouldn’t it mean He was testing us to choose good over evil, to embrace all that is right about the world at large? And to reveal that true power lies elsewhere indeed.

It is overwhelming to see the worst side of ourselves on platforms, at rallies, donning red hats of righteousness. And what is so repulsive is the recognition that we too could be so damning. Lucky are we for our upbringing and positions have placed us outside of the lure of power hunger and shaming. We have been blessed with a choice to act out of love, a choice that some cannot see.

What if Trump really sees no other choice for himself? What a prison of fear he must find himself in.

And that is where my compassion comes forth with a yearning for betterment, for a desire to love that hurt soul who inflicts so much suffering on others. How he must be suffering too.

I am curious if someone were to tune into his soul to find the paperwork he signed before coming to Earth. On it would read: I agree to shake up the world, break all the rules and claim I have won, knowing full well that I never will.

As the hum of the vacuum softened to silence, I smiled at the thought that we can meet any challenge we may face in this world with an open and loving heart, something people so hateful have clearly denied themselves. Love is the reason we are here. Even Trump in his way is putting us to the test to see if that is really true.

I daresay it is.