Dear President Trump, Normally during Lent I focus on giving up one of the many habits I’m not especially proud of and I am working on one this year (refraining from self-promotion that’s driven by insecurity), but I realized this morning I also need an active Lenten practice that’s doing something and not just refraining … Continue reading Imagine
Engagement
You do not get to win this
Dear President Trump, This week I’ve felt even more impacted than usual by your “Shock and Benumb” tactics. “Oh, he’s saying he’d love the government to shut down so he can blame the Democrats.” Hmm. Shrug. “Gosh, the stock market is thrashing around and there’s just the sound of crickets emanating from the White House.” … Continue reading You do not get to win this
Angry Tears
Dear President Trump, I’m going to pivot away from current events this morning because the landscape will likely have shifted so much by this evening that whatever I focus on now will be irrelevant. You must be driving everyone in congress completely crazy, messing with them like a cat does a mouse, pretending they should … Continue reading Angry Tears
“Small things with great love”
Dear President Trump, I’m partial to the early morning hours but I also love twilight when the sun has set and the trees are dark against the still-light sky. Watching the sky slowly darken and seeing light from the first stars become visible reminds me what tiny specks we all are and how our civilization, … Continue reading “Small things with great love”
Hello and Welcome
From the beginning of his presidency, Donald Trump has been the most difficult person in my life. On February 13, 2017 I began sending him a message with a loving-kindness blessing every day via the White House contact page. Starting with the February 20th message all of the letters are reproduced here, and I plan … Continue reading Hello and Welcome
Sincere thanks
Dear President Trump, Eating my lunch yesterday I had a chance to peek at NPR and saw the article describing the open meeting you had with congressional leaders on immigration and for a few minutes I entertained the fantasy that maybe I’m getting through to you. It was so surprising and really quite wonderful that … Continue reading Sincere thanks
Noticing
Dear President Trump, There’s one more thing from yesterday morning to tell you about. I walked in to work from where I parked along the edge of the golf course abutting the VA campus. It’s a public golf course that was built in 1915 and throughout the course, but especially along the edges, there are … Continue reading Noticing
We need full-on rebellion
Dear President Trump, Today is a new day. I know yesterday was a new day when it was today and tomorrow will be a new day when it becomes today so there are chances for new starts all the time. I’m especially grateful for this particular new day because I finally have a useful way … Continue reading We need full-on rebellion
Change of a minor, but still irritating, sort
Dear President Trump, Off and on all day I’ve gotten emails from the White House Correspondence Team thanking me for my messages to you. They are all dated today, 1/5/18, even though I’ve not sent today’s message yet. All told, there were 21 emails. At first I thought the contact system went bonkers like the … Continue reading Change of a minor, but still irritating, sort
LKM for my most difficult person
Dear President Trump, My daughter and I drove down to Portland yesterday to see my family. Fortunately all the snow up here and the freezing rain down there had stopped, and we just had plain old rain (lots of plain old rain). We were going to stay another night and come back in the morning … Continue reading LKM for my most difficult person
Daily Trump Letters 