1/18/2021

My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,

            This is my 402,760th word to you. I wonder if you have seen any of them. Even if you haven’t, this practice of Satyagraha has helped me maintain my sanity in what has become an increasingly crazy world.

Have you heard of Satyagraha? I just found it today while reading MLKs “My Pilgrimage to Non-Violence” where he traces his philosophical journey from Thoreau & Rauschenbusch to Marx & Nietzsche, & finally lands on Ghandi’s (MKG) nonviolent resistance to evil. In discussing MKG’s love ethic, MLK notes, “Satya is truth which equals love, and agraha is force: “Satyagraha,” therefore, means truth-force or love force.”

            How do I practice Satyagraha in my letters to you? I hope you have noticed that I bring up thorny topics & try to provide my honest opinion in a way that I hope you can hear. As MLK suggested nonviolence gets it potency, not through superficial optimism or false idealism, but through cultivating a sense of shame. Some people have argued that you do not experience shame, but I can imagine that you do. When I point out your error, I try to also provide a suggestion that will remedy it, so along with potentially incurring shame, I hope I am also suggesting redemption. It’s the kind of love that Moms express all the time which makes their children cringe in the moment, but appreciate later in life.

            Like MLK I have a personal God & I believe you have one, too. I remind you to attend church because you have lost touch with your God & have let many false prophets lead you astray. I keep hoping that at some point you will hear the still, small voice & start making better choices.

MLK writes of the “glaring reality of collective evil” which you helped to unleash on Jan 6. Fortunately, the State Capitols around the USA were quiet yesterday, suggesting that love continues to prevail. I hope that is the case for the next 3 days & beyond.

BYBS,

RCA

PS - It's not too late to change your mind about attending the inauguration.