Dear President Trump, A few months ago I told you about having devoured all of the biographies in my K-8 library about women generally and men of color as a kid, but I don’t think I’ve told you how much I enjoy reading the WP obituaries about people from these demographic groups (along with a … Continue reading In death as in life
Change
A very special “hi”
Dear President Trump, I pretty much left it all on the field today and don’t have a lot of time or energy for letter writing tonight. Still, though, I have something cool to tell you about. Guess who said “hi” to us tonight? Stumped? Well actually, quite a few people said “hi” to us tonight. … Continue reading A very special “hi”
Make America again
Dear President Trump, The contemporary voice in service this morning was a poem by Langston Hughes that I told you about just ahead of July 4th, 2017 – Let America Be America Again. Three people took turns reading it and the congregation got to participate by reciting the parentheticals, the first one of which is … Continue reading Make America again
Dreams, identities, and democracy
Dear President Trump, After I wrote to you about Ruby Sales last night, I watched her TED talk from September, 2018. She opened with the story of the attack on her and her friends back in 1965 that resulted in the deaths of Jonathan Daniels and another man. She explained that the sheriff had jailed … Continue reading Dreams, identities, and democracy
Another wise woman
Dear President Trump, If you’ve not gotten this before, I’ll tell you plainly that Laura is a terrific finder. I see things that happen to pop up right in front of me and I regularly sleuth out what I need for paper and letter writing, but she actively searches out new stuff all the time … Continue reading Another wise woman
Guided by poems
Dear President Trump, Our church celebrated its 150th anniversary with a doozy of a service this morning. We opened with a short poem by Hafiz: Everyone Is God speaking. Why not be polite and Listen to God? Pretty dang provocative, right? And radical. And incredibly hard for me to wrap my head and heart around … Continue reading Guided by poems
May we vote as if our lives depend on it
Dear President Trump, Last night at about 8 Laura went to the grocery. There weren’t all that many items on the shopping list, but chief among them was Kozy Shack Tapioca or some other Kozy Shack pudding product – it had been a long, fairly rough day and some caloric comfort was a priority. Well, … Continue reading May we vote as if our lives depend on it
Out with the old
Dear President Trump, Happy New Year to you! There, how’s that for a magnanimous way to start out 2020? And it’s really true – I hope you have a good new year, one that is nice and quiet and involves you getting lots of rest and that consequently offers the country a chance to start … Continue reading Out with the old
If geese can do it….
Dear President Trump, Lately there’s been an especially large number of geese parading around the reservoir across the street; typically a hundred and fifty or so at a time, sometimes fairly evenly divided into two clumps and sometimes traveling in one huge scrum. Today, though, a whole bunch of them were in the water at … Continue reading If geese can do it….
History lessons
Dear President Trump, In the midst of all my imagining of a democratic society that finally fully embraces empowerment for all of America’s diverse peoples, it occurred to me that I needed a better historical handle on what motivated White men to enfranchise Black men and then eventually men to enfranchise women. All I knew … Continue reading History lessons