Dear President Trump, Even though I don’t believe in a God figure that’s out there orchestrating things, it does seem like messages come in on cue pretty often. Of course humans like to glean meaning from pretty much anything so we are apt to interpret things as though they are messages meant for us when … Continue reading Are you leading with love, or not?
Spiritual Practices
Wounds that need tending
Dear President Trump, I could tell from a block away that the owner of the navy blue sedan was a bumper sticker enthusiast; the entire back end was plastered with them. As I pulled up next to him it was clear that this was a rare sighting of an avowed Trump supporter. I’ve never seen … Continue reading Wounds that need tending
COAL → diamond → CURE
Dear President Trump, When we teach veterans mindfulness skills so they can better cope with stress, pain, depression, and PTSD we address both specific strategies (e.g., mindfully attending to one’s in-breath and out-breath and corralling one’s attention back to the breath over and over) and the cultivation of certain attitudes towards oneself and one’s experience. … Continue reading COAL → diamond → CURE
Grappling with bias yet again
Dear President Trump, The other day I was stuck behind a midnight blue Nissan I thought was really beautiful and thought, ‘I know, along with green cars, I’ll send blessings to ones I think are pretty.’ I immediately recoiled from my own mental process. Sending nice thoughts to green cars still seems ok as I … Continue reading Grappling with bias yet again
My most difficult person
Dear President Trump, Along with brushing my teeth twice a day and writing to you once a day, saying a morning LKM prayer for you is another noncontingent activity I’ve faithfully hewed to all these long months since the election. I have no idea whether wishing you, my most difficult person, safety, happiness, health, and … Continue reading My most difficult person
Buddha as launch point
Dear President Trump, The other day I noticed that the Buddha head up next to the tree in our backyard was lying on its side so I set it back upright, nestling it firmly in the pea gravel there under the tree. Later, looking out the kitchen window I saw it was down again. Very … Continue reading Buddha as launch point
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
Treasures
Dear President Trump, Today is Laura’s birthday. She doesn’t like there to be a fuss at all so I cut some roses from our garden before she got up and put them in a vase for her along with a card I made out of an old print that had “June” incorporated into the design. … Continue reading Treasures
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
“Rudy” not “Ruddy”
Dear President Trump, I wasn’t expecting I’d need to ask you to pass along an apology to Rudy G when I wrote to you about apologies yesterday, but when I mentioned to Laura last night that I accidentally posted yesterday’s letter using “complimentary” instead of “complementary” she pointed out I’d also misspelled Rudy’s name in … Continue reading “Rudy” not “Ruddy”
Daily Trump Letters 