Dear President Trump,

We got a surprise holiday card in the mail today. It was from the woman at church who got so frustrated with me a few weeks ago when she thought I took too long in the pastor’s receiving line. I know I told you how she sent an apology note, but I don’t remember if I told you I sent her a card back thanking her and letting her know I’m happy to move on. Well, I think in all that back and forth we’ve each made a new friend, which is a pretty great outcome and quite unexpected to have come from that initial painful exchange. In her holiday card she thanked me for helping with the Advent installation, saying she thinks it’s beautiful and how much she appreciates all the prayers we incorporated. She also told me she and her husband are leaving soon for their annual two months in Mexico, which I’m glad to know since I would have looked for her at church and wondered about not seeing her.

It sure seems like my surprise was a lot more pleasant than the one you got today (or the news of which dropped today) about Michael Wolff’s new book dishing all sorts of dirt on you and your administration. But really, you shouldn’t be at all surprised that Bannon said unkind things about you and called Jr.’s Russia meeting behavior “treasonous.” Why would he be loyal to you at this point? Why would any of you be loyal to each other except insofar as loyal-looking behavior is being bought or secured with threats? It’s awful, disturbing, distracting, and it’s probably exactly what Putin was hoping would happen, but it’s patently not a surprise. That old adage – “you reap what you sow” – really fits here, doesn’t it? When the central figure (as in you) is insecure and resorts to building himself up by tearing everyone else down, encourages in-fighting and chaos, and routinely kicks people to the curb, this is the sort of thing that happens. A while back I was wondering why there hadn’t been any “tell all” sorts of exposes on you and your administration, but now there is a doozy and you are one very unhappy camper. Might you learn something from this experience, like how it doesn’t pay to treat people like crap? There could be a solid silver lining here like my new friendship with the lady at church. Really, there could be.

May you feel safe enough to rethink how you treat others.
May you be happy to learn from this tough situation.
May you decide healthy relationships are a priority.
May you invest in peace in your home and in the world.

Sincerely,
Tracy Simpson