10/15/2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            It looks like you & Jill got a warm welcome at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner last night. I found the video of Amy Schneider’s remarks & was impressed with her comments about the importance of being visible as a trans person. I especially appreciated her plea to, “not let the hate or ignorance of others hold you back.” I’m sure you had some encouraging words for the LGBTQ community, too.

            What are your thoughts on this election in Poland today? My friend, Ola, who lives there has been posting on FB about it. I hope that an enlightened person with an open heart wins!

            Danielle Allen’s piece in the WP today elaborated on the notion of “enlightenment.” She didn’t call it that, but she did discuss the importance of “turning toward the light.” She theorizes we live “on a metaphorical sphere that is half in light & half in dark.” While we strive to live in the Light, the darkness is always a force to be reckoned with. As she notes, “Living in the light also entails a perpetual, internal desire for self-correction.” I believe you subscribe to this theory also.

             Since we are always reckoning with the evil that lurks within, “we need somehow to discover anew in ourselves what it means to hold sacred the human being in front of us, even when we are political adversaries.”

            Min Aung Hlaing, VVP & Bibi all need to hear this over & over. If they have the humility to acknowledge their own faults, we might make some progress toward peace.

            BYBS,