5/5/2019

My dear Friend and president, DJT,

https://religionnews.com/2019/05/04/rachel-held-evans-christian-writer-of-honesty-and-humor-dies-at-age-37/

            Does it ever trouble you when you find out about a kindred spirit after they die? This happens to me far too often. Like when I go to a memorial service and find out a friend shared my interest in gardening, or grew up outside of Chicago or studied dance and say to myself, "Darn, I wish I had known that before." Today it happened to me twice.    

            First when I read the NYT obituary of "wandering evangelical" Rachel Held Evans, 37, who died of a strange brain infection leaving her husband to care for their 3 and 1 year olds. She ditched the Episcopal church because it was too exclusive and tweeted to "proclaim a more just and expansive vision of God’s love& help other spiritual seekers to realize that they were not alone." Apparently, she expressed her herself with tenderness and humor. Maybe we should both read her work. I can read, "Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions." Since you are pressed for time, you could just read her tweets.

            The other deceased kindred spirit I ran across today was my own uncle, Stephen. I googled him to recall what kind of Presidential medal was bestowed on him by Bill Clinton. (It was the National Humanities one). I found the following quote which captures my stance toward you."Never question a man’s motives because you never really know the secrets of his heart." He also said, "nothing is more fascinating to people than people," and these letters prove that to me day after day.

         Speaking of Presidential Medals and fascinating people, I understand that Tiger Woods will be honored at the WH tomorrow. His story inspires hope that we can all grow and learn. Like many others, I wish he would talk about the challenges of being a black man in the USA today. I would love to hear him say something to challenge the status quo like calling out the golf clubs where the only melanin on the site belongs to the staff. Please send him my congrats.

Best,

RCA