A letter to Mr. Trump from an American citizen

Mr. Trump:

In one of your recent speeches you assured the American people that you were highly educated and that you know words, and that you have the best words.

It seems your favorite word is “I” – something that should give cause for concern to every American voter – but I wonder if you also know some more challenging words, words like nobility, dignity, truth, courage or freedom.

I ask because those words, and their meanings, are not evident in anything you say or do, which is a repeated slap in the face to the American people you are campaigning to serve… or maybe you don’t know the meaning of that word either.

Serve … it’s what presidents do. It’s what presidential leadership is all about. It’s what good leadership is all about.

But apparently that’s not what Trump leadership is all about. You have made it clear that your leadership will amount to “jump when I say jump,” and if that jump isn’t high enough there will be hell to pay.

I’m wondering how that will translate when you are in negotiations with prominent world leaders.

Then there’s the word great. You use it a lot, like when you said you’d be great for women. I can’t imagine that, based on so much of what you’ve said recently, so I would like to ask you a one-word question that you seem to have trouble answering: “How?”

How will you be great for women, and most importantly, how do you plan to make America great?

What does that very subjective word “great” mean to Donald Trump? It would be helpful if you would translate it for the rest of the American public.

You see, many of us already believe America to be great, most often when, through her laws, her leaders and her people, the virtues of nobility, dignity, truth, courage and freedom are woven into the fabric of her identity.

 The American people are deserving of such highly principled values. What you have presented during your campaign is a far cry from anything that resembles virtues or values.

You have assaulted the American people with your turgid rhetoric and cemented political discourse into the world of reality TV. In doing so, you have attempted to manipulate voters into supporting you without providing anything concrete to support.

In the words of an astute philosopher, “Rhetoric without reason, persuasion without argument is manipulation.”

If you really care about America, you will put your gargantuan ego aside and go back to the business world before our country becomes another failed attempt at success under the Trump brand, or worse, is destroyed completely by your political incompetence and infantile petulance.

Shine purple for prayer...for victory and peace

 As our leaders around the world look for answers and actions to defeat terrorism, most of us are left trying to live our daily lives in spite of our fears. Our safety and our futures are in the hands of others. But I am certain that we all want to feel as if we are doing our part to stem the tide of evil that manifests itself in terrorism.

 As you might expect, I am suggesting that we turn to pray for the answers, to thwart evil, to impart wisdom to our leaders and to continue to develop the communities of love that will be the “something bigger” our youth need so they do not look for belonging within the nest of terrorists.

 There are an estimated 173 million Christians in the United States alone, along with millions more who belong to one of the great religious traditions of the world – all of which affirm that life is sacred, something to be nurtured and protected, not destroyed.

 Together, people of all faiths, need to provide prayer support to our leaders, our military, our law enforcement members at home, and our communities in every part of the world … imagine more than 200 million people sending out prayers to cover the earth, every day.

 It’s the least…and the most…we can do. Join me in putting a light in the window - purple for prayer.

 

Prayer to Overcome Our Enemies

You are my king and my God,

who bestows victories on Jacob.

 Through you we batter our foes;

through your name we trample our adversaries.

 Not in my bow do I trust,

nor does my sword bring me victory.

 You have brought us victory over our enemies,

shamed those who hate us.

 In God we have boasted all the day long;

your name we will praise forever.

                                                    ~Psalm 44:5

Are we really communicating?

Considering Joseph Priestly was born in 1733, I wonder what he would think of Facebook, YouTube,  
Twitter, Instagram, and the rest of our social media platforms, commonly referred to as 'personal' communication.

Historic Preservation: The Road to Remembering

HIGH ABOVE THE PATCHWORK QUILT FARMLANDS OF the Hudson Valley near Albany, New  York, sits John Boyd Thacher State Park, cresting miles of limestone cliff face and traveling deep into forests, down rocky slopes to grassy fields. It was here, as a child, where I first walked the Indian Ladder Trail with my dad. It was here where my love for the past was nurtured by the stories of the Mohawk Iroquois Indians who, several hundred years earlier, had walked a trail back and forth to Henry Hudson’s trading post. To scale the cliffs they felled tall trees against the cliff wall and cut back the branches, creating what the early settlers called Indian ladders.

In the late 1800s, philanthropist John Boyd Thacher established a summer residence in the area and purchased hundreds of acres of land, including more than a three-mile expanse of the cliff ledge. The Indian Ladder Trail and a number of other sites of natural and historic beauty were part of his estate; land which he made available to the public for their enjoyment. … (read the rest here:   

http://gardenstatelegacy.com/files/Historic_Preservation_Road_to_Remembering_Morrell_GSL11.pdf

Published in GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 11 • March 2011

You think I said what??

"What is communicated is not what is said but what is heard, and what is heard is determined  in  large measure by what the hearer needs or wants to hear."  

This bit of wisdom, originally written more than 30 years ago and meant for those who preach the Sunday homily, continues to be an important bit of wisdom throughout the field of communication. Generally, every communique, oral or written, is filtered through the needs, perspective and experience of the receiver.

Just read through the comment thread following a news article, or listen to the feedback following  a campaign rally. You will invariably  wonder if respondents read what you read, or heard what you heard.

 Have you ever sent an email to several different people only to have one or more of them completely misunderstand what you were trying to say? One may suspect your intentions, another may take it as a personal affront, and another may ignore it completely, believing it has nothing to do with him or her.

 To communicate effectively, it is essential to have an understanding of your audience, whether your audience is a parish congregation, a small faith community, the office staff or a classroom full of students, remembering that "the way we interpret the world  ... determines the way we relate to it."

Quotes are from "Fulfilled in Your Hearing: The Homily  in the Sunday Assembly,"  USCCB, 1982

Quotes are