Hillary Clinton's pastor compared her loss to Donald Trump to the death of Jesus Christ in a message he sent her the day after the November 2016 election.
"You, our nation, our world, is experiencing a black Friday," Rev. Bill Shillady wrote to Clinton on Nov. 9, 2016, CNN reported. "Our hope is that Sunday is coming. But it might well be hell for a while."
On Good Friday every year, Christians observe the crucifixion and death of Jesus, who they believe to be the Son of God. Two days later, they celebrate Easter Sunday, which marks the Resurrection of Jesus and the triumph over sin.
One day after Clinton's stunning defeat at the hands of Trump, Shillady wrote that "life is filled with a lot of Fridays" and Good Friday "represented the day that everything fell apart."
"Today, you are experiencing a Friday. Your Friday is what happened in the last few weeks and last night in the tragic loss. But Sunday is coming!" Shillady wrote.
Shillady went on to write about the suffering of Jesus for the world's sins and how his faith in God gave him "the grace and peace to submit to Friday."
"Friday is finished," he wrote. "Sunday is coming. Death will be shattered. Hope will be restored. But first, we must live through the darkness and seeming hopelessness of Friday."
Clinton, a Methodist, has reportedly discussed making her own spirituality more public, and Shillady has said she would make a "great pastor."
Here is Shillady's full message, according 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.
For the disciples and Christ's followers in the first century, Good Friday represented the day that everything fell apart. All was lost. The momentum and hope of a man claiming to be the Son of God, the Messiah who was supposed to change everything, had been executed.
Even though Jesus told his followers three days later the temple would be restored, they had no idea of what that Sunday would be. They betrayed, denied, mourned, fled and hid. They did just about everything BUT feel good about Friday and their circumstances.
For us, Friday is the phone call from the doctor that the cancer is back. It's the news that you have lost your job. It's the betrayal of a friend, the loss of someone dear. Friday is the day that it all falls apart and all hope is lost. We all have Fridays. But, as the saying goes, "Sunday's coming!
Today, you are experiencing a Friday. Your Friday is what happened in the last few weeks and last night in the tragic loss. But Sunday is coming!
Jesus completed the excruciating task of giving up his life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. It was his faith and belief in his heavenly Father, that gave him the grace and peace to submit to Friday. While death had seemingly won, Jesus knew better. When he said, "It is finished," it wasn't meant to be a statement of concession. It was a declaration that a new day was on the way.
Friday is finished. Sunday is coming. Death will be shattered. Hope will be restored. But first, we must live through the darkness and seeming hopelessness of Friday.
You know one of my favorite sayings is "God doesn't close one door without opening another, but it can be hell in the hallway." 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.