President* Trump, I’m certainly not one of them…. But I’m betting a rather large proportion of US residents over the age of 10 are obsessively checking their go-to news and social media outlets to see whether you’ve succumbed to COVID. And yes, I’m sure you’ve got a chunky loyal contingency that’s sitting in darkened rooms … Continue reading Erskine’s send-up skits and Poe’s prophetic short story
Prayer
We have to see each other
President* Trump, I’m at the gallery today and because September is my show month I’m getting to sit here with my work on the walls and it’s pretty cool. Mostly people are walking by outside and not stopping, but my sense is there’s a bit more curiosity than usual and a bit more eye contact … Continue reading We have to see each other
Piecing together connection and being
Dear President Trump, For about the last year I’ve closed my walking lovingkindness meditation with the following: May we all have the courage and the resolve to be peace and kindness. May we all have the resolve and courage to accept kindness and peace. Maybe I’ve told you about this before – I’m not sure … Continue reading Piecing together connection and being
How we are in the world
Dear President Trump, Over about the last six weeks I’ve changed the final line of the loving-kindness prayer I say every morning at least four times. The other three lines, the ones sending out wishes/hopes/intentions for safety, happiness, and health/strength have stayed consistent except for occasionally focusing on how much I want the person, typically … Continue reading How we are in the world
Voluntary and involuntary social distancing
Dear President Trump, I’m hanging out upstairs semi out of earshot of Laura as she conducts her review session via Zoom with her class ahead of their online final tomorrow. I don’t know how many of her 83 students have joined, but when I was still downstairs I heard quite a few of them exclaiming … Continue reading Voluntary and involuntary social distancing
A long, complicated, sordid tale
Dear President Trump, Because there are so many steps involved in making a man, of sorts, into a President/King, here’s another installment of President is King and King is President….. Once upon a longish span of time there lived a small handful of people in our land whose lives revolved around the making of men, … Continue reading A long, complicated, sordid tale
Peace is higher priority than ease
Dear President Trump, I had a little-big epiphany as I was going through my loving-kindness prayers on my walk this morning. I realized that it doesn’t make sense to send intentions for my life, my family’s lives, and strangers’ lives to unfold with ease and intentions for your life to unfold peacefully – that really, … Continue reading Peace is higher priority than ease
Breathing out and breathing in
Dear President Trump, I’m afraid I don’t have much for you tonight, but I’ll give you what I’ve got. It’s raining again (we’re at 131% of normal thus far for 2020) and the forecast is for more and more and more rain this week. Lately it’s been sounding like there’s a creek under our house … Continue reading Breathing out and breathing in
“I’m not here to occupy space; I’m here to make it” ~ Representative Ayanna Pressley
Dear President Trump, Because I’m 99% sure you missed it, I’ll remind you that yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr.’s actual birthday (he would have been 91). In honor of him and the day, there was an MLK celebration at the VA yesterday and since some meetings were cancelled I was able to attend. The … Continue reading “I’m not here to occupy space; I’m here to make it” ~ Representative Ayanna Pressley
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