Dear President Trump, A couple of weeks ago I told you about how our pastor invited someone who is currently experiencing homelessness to join her at the front of the church a few minutes into her sermon and how he proceeded to sing "Ode to Joy." What I forgot to tell you is that the … Continue reading Trust
Spiritual Practices
Were you talking to Putin?
Dear President Trump, When I wrote you yesterday I'd been assuming your intended audience for the "your dreams will come true if you elect me president" speech was the group of people you were actually talking to, but I realized as I was falling asleep last night this was likely incorrect. My sense now is … Continue reading Were you talking to Putin?
Left to our own devices it’s hard to be radically generous
Dear President Trump, I've been thinking about how hard it is to love your neighbor as yourself if you don't feel loved yourself and how if you don't feel loved yourself, it's likely your tendency is to see love as transactional such that you aren't willing to give love until you receive love. I'm guessing … Continue reading Left to our own devices it’s hard to be radically generous
Old, old wisdom we need to heed
Good Morning President Trump, If you were studying justice you likely would have already made the slight leap from JG's framing of it (all humans as unique and irreplaceable works of art) to Jesus's encouragement to love your neighbor as your self and to love your enemy. And maybe you'd even have made the connection … Continue reading Old, old wisdom we need to heed
A drop of water
Dear President Trump, It was a beautiful, clear, cool, quiet morning with a nice smattering of stars visible. I only felt scared once when my own shadow surprised me over my shoulder. Near the end of my run I said my usual lovingkindness prayer for myself, Laura, Iris, a runner I don't know, you, and … Continue reading A drop of water
9/11 and doodle prayers
Dear President Trump, I promised you more from yesterday's church service, but first I want to pause and recognize that today is the 16th anniversary of 9/11. I imagine you remember where you were when you found out what was happening and since you were probably in NYC I'm guessing your first reaction was terror … Continue reading 9/11 and doodle prayers
Extra special Sunday
Dear President Trump, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to cover all the good news that happened today at church in my allotted 2500 characters so there may be some spillover tomorrow. We'll see. Today was Homecoming Sunday. It's always a pretty big deal for us but this year our Pastor made it … Continue reading Extra special Sunday
Green cars
Dear President Trump, A couple of weeks ago I floated the idea of using something one encounters out in the world fairly frequently but not all the time, like green cars, to remind oneself to think about kindness or to wish others peace. I decided to take myself up on the idea and I've been … Continue reading Green cars
Regular human beings
Dear President Trump, This morning I tried imagining you wearing protective eye wear to view the eclipse and I just couldn't see it. I knew there was no way you'd be a good sport and deign to wear such silly glasses. I did hope, though that someone would manage to override your vanity and make … Continue reading Regular human beings
Green car cues
Dear President Trump, Turns out my off-the-cuff idea of picking a random object and using it to cue a person (in this case me) to orient toward kindness came in pretty handy today. I drove from Seattle to Portland and decided to go with the green car cue. When I mentioned green cars yesterday I … Continue reading Green car cues
Daily Trump Letters 