Dear President Trump, Yesterday my church held a Good Friday service with seven women ministers preaching on Jesus’s last seven utterances. It was incredible. I wish you could have been there. I wish you would have wanted to be there. I wish you were someone who was willing to step into the mess of suffering … Continue reading It was weird
Positives
“Stonecatchers”
Dear President Trump, I finished Just Mercy last night, the book by Bryan Stevenson I’ve told you about before, and was so moved by the final story he shared. He was finishing up at a courthouse in Louisiana after a marathon day when he saw an elderly black woman sitting on some stairs. She smiled … Continue reading “Stonecatchers”
They won’t take “no” for an answer
Dear President Trump, I called it, didn’t I? Golfing at Mar-a-lago trumped being in Washington today for the rally. And last time I checked, you hadn’t even made a statement of your own; there was just a say-nothing squeak from a functionary about how you are prioritizing the safety of our nation’s children. Your true … Continue reading They won’t take “no” for an answer
Crowd sourced Tylenol
Dear President Trump, This morning I took the early Alaska flight out of Seattle to Reagan National and as I was going down the ramp to board the plane I started getting migraine lights in my right field of vision. Not good. Because she did an organizational overhaul of my travel backpack last night, I … Continue reading Crowd sourced Tylenol
Kindness revisited
Dear President Trump, I wasn’t able to catch the exact wording of the saying or who it was attributed to because I was running late, but I saw something to this effect on someone’s office door yesterday: “Choose kindness whenever possible, which is always.” Isn’t that nice? I really mean it, I think it’s a … Continue reading Kindness revisited
Tender truths
Dear President Trump, I thought for sure I’d written to you about confirmation bias before, but I just did a quick search of my running letters document and I couldn’t find the term. It’s an important idea to understand so I’ve been remiss. Essentially it is how we tend to preferentially pick out things in … Continue reading Tender truths
Mental health and masculinity
Dear President Trump, We have posters all over the VA that say “It takes the courage and strength of a warrior to ask for help….” Some have a silhouette of a single solider with his head in his hands and others have a male hand reaching down from a military vehicle to help another male … Continue reading Mental health and masculinity
Kids need us to be the adults
Dear President Trump, Monday evening our daughter let me know she planned to take an unexcused absence and miss school on Tuesday because she and two friends were driving down to Olympia to participate in the rally urging lawmakers to pass gun control legislation. She was close to tears as she told me how angry … Continue reading Kids need us to be the adults
Please pull your head out
Dear President Trump, I haven’t shared anything especially positive with you lately so I thought I’d tell you what happened this morning on my run-walk. A young white man who looked like he might be homeless was standing on a corner with his skateboard out in front of him in my path. I said ‘hi’ … Continue reading Please pull your head out
Psalm 23, again and still
Dear President Trump, A few weeks ago we had a memorial service at church for one of our dear long-time members. This woman was 94 and I’m happy to say the sanctuary was brimming with people. Near the end of the service a recording came on that sounded for all the world like it was … Continue reading Psalm 23, again and still
Daily Trump Letters 