Hillary's pastor compared campaign to Christ's persecution
Hillary Clinton's personal pastor compared her treatment to the persecution of Jesus in a devotional sent to her during the Presidential campaign - and victor Donald Trump to the 'wicked'.
The former Democratic candidate took comfort from the words of Rev Bill Shillady who told her that 'blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness'.
Rev Shillady referred her to Matthew 5:10-12 which says that the reward for such ill treatment on Earth was going to Heaven when she died.
The remarks were among the daily devotionals sent by Rev Shillady to Clinton during her failed campaign against Donald Trump.
In the foreword to the book Clinton privately admits that the day after losing the election on November 8 last year was 'one of the hardest days of my life'.
But Rev Shillady told her 'love your enemy' and, apparently referring to Trump, to even try to 'embrace' him.
The advice is collected in a book of 365 mini sermons in 'Strong For A Moment Like This: The Daily Devotionals of Hillary Rodham Clinton', which is out Tuesday on Abingdon Press.
The devotionals are organized roughly chronologically with the advice given around the election in a section called 'Tested By Fire'.
An undated sermon called 'The persecuted' includes a reference to Matthew 5:10-12 which reads: 'Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Love your enemies: Clinton was given the advice the day before the FBI re-opened the probe into her secret server. Instead of taking inspiration, she attacked the bureau at a campaign stop
Are you there Jesus? It's me, Hillary! The Rev Bill Shillady reveals in his collection of the devotionals he sent Clinton how her campaign was compared to the persecution of Christ
Family relationship: Rev Shillady has known the Clintons since Chelsea started attending his church, and helped officiate at her wedding to Marc Mezvinsky in 2010
'Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
'Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you'.
Underneath it Rev Shillady has written: 'If you always pursue honesty, integrity and justice you will encounter first the cold shoulder, then the caustic remarks, and finally persecution'.
Clinton is currently working on her own book about the election called 'What Happened', which is out next month, but in interviews and speeches she has already blamed everyone but herself for her election loss.
In Clinton's eyes her defeat was a conflagration of Russian interference, the FBI reopening its investigation into her use of a private email service and Trump's vicious campaign.
In the foreword to 'Strong for a Moment Like This' Clinton writes that there was 'one day in particular' that she needed Rev Shillady's advice, the day after the election on November 8 last year.
Clinton writes: 'Rev Bill wrote to me [on] one of the hardest days of my life. His words were a lifeline to me then - something to hold onto while I recaptured my footing.
HILLARY'S DEFEAT DAY PRAYER - 'IT'S HELL' Here are some of the highlights of the lengthy prayer Clinton received on Friday November 8, as revealed to CNN. 'It is Friday, but Sunday is coming. This is not the devotional I had hoped to write. 'This is not the devotional you wish to receive this day. While Good Friday may be the starkest representation of a Friday that we have, life is filled with a lot of Fridays. 'Your Friday is what happened in the last few weeks and last night in the tragic loss. But Sunday is coming! 'My sister Hillary. You, our nation, our world is experiencing a black Friday. Our hope is that Sunday is coming. But it might well be hell for a while.'
'"Sunday is coming", he wrote. He was right.'
Clinton describes the presidential campaign as a 'long and difficult journey' and that on dark days Rev Shillady wrote about grief and hope.
On the morning of the election he sent her a short devotional at 10.30am which was called 'Signs of Hope'.
An 11.30am prayer was titled 'Stand Firm' and at 2.45pm he sent her a prayer called 'Do Not Be Anxious'.
At 4pm the message from Rev Shillady was 'Fear Not'.
As the day wore on Rev Shillady's message shifted to 'As We Wait' and he sent her James 5:7-11.
The devotional read: 'Lord I want patience and I want it NOW!'
As the tide turned against Clinton, Rev Shillady advised her that 'there are tragedies in the world and things that can't be undone'.
He wrote: 'There are scars that remain from the hurts that we've inflicted and that have been inflicted on us... Lord, help my heart to sing hallelujah in the midst of despair'.
Memos later that night talked about moments when 'fear and silence overtake us' and 'hope seems like a specter'.
Advice apparently given on November 9 reads that 'some days it feels as if the "wicked" have all the luck'.
It says: 'As if the "disrespectful" ones are the ones who get the most air time, as if standing 'on the road of sinners' would be a lot easier than working for peace with justice'.
Clinton was raised a Methodist in Park Ridge, Illinois where her mother taught Sunday school and raised money for charity, inspiring her daughter's interest in social justice.
Rev Shillady, the executive director the United Methodist City Society in New York, met her at the 9/11 commemoration service in New York in 2002.
He co-officiated the wedding of Clinton's daughter Chelsea to Marc Mezvinsky, and Clinton describes them having a 'beautiful friendship'.
Other sermons urge her to 'fear not evil', to 'refuel your spirit' and talk about how she was 'called to serve'.
A devotional which Rev Shillady wrote to Clinton in October last year is called 'Love Your Enemy', apparently referring to Trump.
It reads: 'Lord, help me love my enemies.
'Give me the wisdom to teach them, through my action and attitude, that their injustice will not win. And help me to embrace them as children of yours who need your love and grace through me'.
Ironically the memo appears to have been written the day before former FBI director James Comey re-opened his investigation into Clinton's emails, something she says was a major factor in her loss.
An undated devotional includes quotes from Rev Dr Cathy S Gillard called: 'Why I Should Forgive'.
It reads: 'Holding on to past wounds and hurts: carrying grudges and not resolving issues is costly - very costly.
'It costs me present joy, peace, and sometimes my sanity….often the offender has gone on merrily living his or her life oblivious or unconcerned that the infraction ever occurred while I spent hours, days, weeks mourning and grieving my wounded self'.
In Rev Shillady's foreword to the book he reveals an email he wrote to Clinton on November 9, the day after the election, in which he says that Trump's victory 'may be hell for a while'.
He also says that the world is experiencing a 'dark Friday' but that America must 'live through the darkness and seeming hopelessness'.
Strong for a Moment Like This: The Daily Devotions of Hillary Rodham Clinton, is available for pre-order on Amazon.