At about 5 a.m. each day — maybe a little later on weekends — an email from the Rev. Bill Shillady arrives in Hillary Clinton's inbox.
The contents? A reading from Scripture. A devotional commentary. And a prayer. They're sometimes inspired by the headlines — focusing recently, for example, on the role of women in the Bible.
"I know she reads them, because she responds to me," says Shillady, executive director of the United Methodist City Society in New York. "We've had some interesting emails back and forth about some of the concepts."
It's no secret that Clinton is a lifelong Methodist. But Shillady — who officiated at Chelsea Clinton's wedding, led a memorial service for Clinton's mother, Dorothy Rodham, and gave the closing benediction at the Democratic National Convention — feels that many people don't really know how much her faith "is a daily thing."He says this is because Clinton's faith is of a personal variety, one she's not very comfortable with broadcasting.
As Clinton said at a presidential forum in 2007: "I take my faith very seriously and very personally. And I come from a tradition that is perhaps a little too suspicious of people who wear their faith on their sleeves ... a lot of the talk about and advertising about faith doesn't come naturally to me."
One reason Clinton might not speak more about her faith is that her commitment to it has been challenged over the years by political foes for various reasons. That's perhaps not surprising, given her decades as a polarizing political figure.
Donald Trump also has questioned her faith, with this claim in June: "We don't know anything about Hillary in terms of religion." Perplexed Clinton supporters noted plenty has been said and written, by Clinton and others, about her faith.
Shillady has been sending Clinton the daily messages for some 19 months now. These days, he has a multi-faith team of clergy to help prepare them. Some younger female clergy have contributed recent writings about women, dovetailing with gender issues arising in the campaign.
On Saturday, his message included a quote from St. Francis of Assisi about the need to have peace in one's heart. Telling Clinton that she was being pulled in many directions and was "in the midst of a bee hive of this world," the pastor reminded her about "the inner peace that needs to be the center of your being,".
He says this is because Clinton's faith is of a personal variety, one she's not very comfortable with broadcasting.
As Clinton said at a presidential forum in 2007: "I take my faith very seriously and very personally. And I come from a tradition that is perhaps a little too suspicious of people who wear their faith on their sleeves ... a lot of the talk about and advertising about faith doesn't come naturally to me."
One reason Clinton might not speak more about her faith is that her commitment to it has been challenged over the years by political foes for various reasons. That's perhaps not surprising, given her decades as a polarizing political figure.
Donald Trump also has questioned her faith, with this claim in June: "We don't know anything about Hillary in terms of religion." Perplexed Clinton supporters noted plenty has been said and written, by Clinton and others, about her faith.
Shillady has been sending Clinton the daily messages for some 19 months now. These days, he has a multi-faith team of clergy to help prepare them. Some younger female clergy have contributed recent writings about women, dovetailing with gender issues arising in the campaign.
On Saturday, his message included a quote from St. Francis of Assisi about the need to have peace in one's heart. Telling Clinton that she was being pulled in many directions and was "in the midst of a bee hive of this world," the pastor reminded her about "the inner peace that needs to be the center of your being," according to a copy of the message that he passed on.
Often, Shillady says, Clinton will reply with comments. Sometimes she may incorporate the ideas into public remarks, but generally it's for her own inspiration and comfort.
Have the messages changed at all during the extremely tense debate season? "Some of the recent writings have definitely been about standing firm in the faith and being bold and courageous and things of that sort," replies Shillady.
"I've been sending messages about loving your neighbor, and loving those that are most difficult to love."
Shillady, who met Clinton in 2002 and came to know the family when they attended his Manhattan church, says "the spiritual component of her faith is pretty private" — partly due to the nature of Methodism itself.
"The Bible says to pray in your private closet, and do good at all times, and I think that's how she lives out her faith," he says.
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