6/15/2025
6/15/2025
My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,
I have exactly 20 minutes to write this note today, because my Yangon Meeting for Worship starts at 7:00 & then I have to rush off to Davis to make it in time for the Davis Friends Meeting. Sitting in silence with Friends is such a tonic for all the craziness in the world. You should try it!
Do you talk to strangers? Maybe no one is a stranger to you, so perhaps this is more of a hypothetical question. Would you be inclined to speak with a stranger? My guess is yes as you seem quite uninhibited & extroverted.
It’s not my inclination but I am trying to get over my hesitation. My buddy & I invented “banter ministry” a few years ago where we tried to strike up conversations with folks we met on the trail. Our goal was to make a spiritual connection, which happened more often than you might expect. David Brooks suggests speaking with strangers on the train or plane because it brings happiness.
On the other hand, Malcolm Gladwell writes that talking with strangers can go terribly wrong with tragic consequences.
I ask because my husband has taken to speaking with our houseless neighbors & random police officers. He did so yesterday as we went to & from the No Kings event. He met Robert on the Tower Bridge who was wrestling with his bike & a garbage bag overflowing with cans & bottles. Robert insisted he was ok & didn’t need the $20 offered to him. Somehow my husband got him to tell his life story, which aligns with David Brooks’ suggestion to engage in “narrative” rather than “paradigmatic” thinking.
Forgive my ramble – since I only have 5 minutes left, I must bring up the tragedy in MN where suicidal 57-year-old Vance Boelter (VB) shot Rep. Melissa Hortman, her husband, Mark, Sen. John Hoffman & his wife. While I appreciate your expression of concern, I worry that your rhetoric might have emboldened VB. Please consider that possibility & avoid talking about killing people. Some are taking you literally.
BYBS,
RCA
PS – Please bring up Burma at the G7 talks tomorrow.
