2/3/2024

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            It’s a sunny day in the Palmetto State so hopefully voters have headed to the polls. So far 48,213 absentee ballots have been submitted. I couldn’t find a stat on the % of voters who go to the polls versus not so it’s hard to know what the turnout might be.

            According to the NYT, KDH has visited SC 9 times talking up your campaign. They also mentioned that PA Lt Gov Austin Davis made 6 stops on Wed pitching you to his fellow young black men. I hope his messaging about combating the epidemic of gun violence resonated with them.

            Speaking of guns, I was shocked to read in my brother’s memoir that my dad purchased a gun for him when he was about 14. I love my bro, but at that age his judgement was not to be trusted. My dad was not a gun guy, so he must have had some crazy mixed-up notion about macho bonding over a weapon. My bro reports being devastated by shooting a bird in our backyard. Luckily, he experienced the phenomenon that Buddha talked about, “when you kill something, you kill a part of yourself,” & never used the gun again. Would that all 14-year-olds would have that insight.

            I hope the remaining Bamar soldiers in the junta remember the Buddha’s message & refuse to kill their neighbors.

Did you hear that Min Aung Hlaing has earned himself another nickname after extending the state of emergency for a fifth time on Jan. 31. People are now calling him “Toe” – Burmese for “extend” or “renew.”

            I hope you are able to join our Worship Sharing tonight where we will address the query, “How may we better understand the forces of injustice in Myanmar, & how they relate to injustice that manifests in our lives?”

            BYBS,