A Miraculous Perspective

Sen. Ben Sasse is dying of Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. He has been public about his diagnosis and future. Below is an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal article where Sen. Sasse discusses life, family, regrets, and faith. God bless this man.

RE: Wall Street Journal; March 14, 2026

A Public Servant Faces A Public Death

Mr. Sasse and his wife, Melissa, have been married 31 years. Their three homeschooled children are 24, 22 and 14. “When we’re at dinner, I don’t want to have projects about work flitting through my head, and I used to do that way too much,” he says. He has become “more reflective about the stupidity of some of the idol factories I used to create in my head around work projects.” He kicks himself now for his distractedness but feels “gratitude to be able to say I was wrong. Because I get to tell my kids the truth, and that feels joyful. And as a Christian, I get to take all my failings to Jesus, so that is relief.”

The phrase “idol factory” comes from John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion.” Mr. Sasse, a devout Christian, describes himself as “Lutero-Calvinist,” which means he draws on the teachings, also, of Martin Luther. “I’m in need of the grace that only Jesus Christ’s historical death and resurrection can provide.”

If that sounds pious for a politician, Mr. Sasse doesn’t mean it to be. “There’s a lot of baggage wrapped up in piety,” Mr. Sasse says. “Mostly thanks to folks who spend a lot of time trying to look pious.” He says a good politician knows the “important distinction between Caesar and Cincinnatus. The latter is the archetype of statesmanship modeled by George Washington. Tell the truth, don’t put politics at the center of life—do your job, then go home—and love your country.” He adds that “American politicians ought to believe in the God-given souls of human beings, but they can definitely be wishy-washy about where those souls come from.”