Dear President Trump, It’s good you went ahead and slapped the idea of readmitting Russia to the G-7 on the table this morning. I was wondering when someone was going to point out that your baiting of Macron and Trudeau and the wanton tariff leveeing were likely at Vladimir’s behest. I didn’t see anything in … Continue reading Real patriotism
Love and Compassion
Tonglen, still and yet
Dear President Trump, Lent ended months ago and I realized I’ve yet to circle back to let you know how my daily tonglen practice went those 40 days. Well, mostly it was hard. As I worked at breathing in whatever negativity I was perceiving, I struggled with both the emotional heaviness of the effort and … Continue reading Tonglen, still and yet
Jesus and Buddha would have liked each other a lot
Dear President Trump, Two days ago I discovered that someone in the next block up has a log on their front porch that’s been carved into a likeness of Jesus. The top is plain log, complete with bark and tree rings and the rest has a detailed Jesus face, neck, and upper chest carved into … Continue reading Jesus and Buddha would have liked each other a lot
What is wrong with you?
Dear President Trump, Did your minders not tell you that it’s not appropriate to enthusiastically say “Happy Memorial Day!”? Your tweet earlier today with that opening and the statement that all our dead service members would be so pleased with how great things are going here in America made me shudder. And cringe. Can you … Continue reading What is wrong with you?
In the living room
Dear President Trump, How about we stick with the good news theme for now? During the hour between worship services the church staff and those of us on our pastor’s support team threw her a surprise party to celebrate her having finished her Doctor of Ministries degree. I didn’t think we could actually pull it … Continue reading In the living room
“Places where we can exhale”
Dear President Trump, I’ve taken most of the day off from the news so hopefully you haven’t done anything horribly nasty, scary, or egregious in the last 24 hours. You probably have, but I’m going to pretend, for now, that you haven’t and go with my plan to cover some more good news today. I … Continue reading “Places where we can exhale”
Real people with names and lives
Dear President Trump, We have family visiting from Atlanta and decided to take a drive to check out an island in the Salish Sea. On the freeway I saw a pick-up truck that had a brown sock monkey on a rope tied to the trailer hitch flying out behind like it was being dragged. No … Continue reading Real people with names and lives
Leading with love
Dear President Trump, Many of us are well conditioned not to brag about or even mention our own accomplishments and it is also unseemly if we get too carried away talking about our children’s, so it feels a little dicey to tell you about what our daughter’s coach said about her on Saturday. It came … Continue reading Leading with love
Go ahead, take your marbles someplace else
Dear President Trump, Dang, I just did it again – as I dutifully typed my polite salutation to you, my fingers got going too fast and I typed “Dear President Ru.” Juvenile Freudian slip, I guess. Have you been following what’s happening here in Seattle around the City Council’s proposal to build low income housing … Continue reading Go ahead, take your marbles someplace else
Noble understanding
Dear President Trump, Yesterday I drove behind a car with two noteworthy bumper stickers: “Do small things with great love” and “The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.” As you may (or may not) know, the first is by Mother Theresa and the second is by Leonardo da Vinci. I wrote to you on … Continue reading Noble understanding
Daily Trump Letters 