5/6/2024
May 6, 2024
JRB,
On this day in 1957, my sis was born at the US Naval Hospital in Quantico. She turned out great! She’s spreading love & faith throughout her neighborhood. Please join me in wishing her a happy birthday.
Speaking of which –, I will be using SpOW as shorthand from now on. I like to use that 18-character phrase as a transition, but it takes up too much real estate. I hope you can remember the acronym.
Back to birthdays. Yesterday, I found out that my new little Friend has the same b-day as I do. He was born on 10/1/2018. When he told me that, I exclaimed, “ohhh, that’s why we get along so well!”
Yesterday, he chose to learn about David & Goliath. We looked at 3 different versions. It’s a tricky story for a Quaker, because it venerates fighting. At least the armies don’t have an all out war, rather settle their dispute by having representatives duke it out. I emphasized the idea that David gets his courage because he feels the power of God inside him. My little Friend was intrigued that a precisely shot projectile could take down a giant & kept pretending to hit me in the forehead with a stone.
We have so many David & Goliath situations in the world right now, underdogs fighting the better equipped, more powerful foes & holding their own. For example, the latest news from Burma indicates that 5 battalions of the junta Operations Command 15” surrendered to the Arakan Army after a 12-day battle. The other examples are too numerous to list.
While heartening, I continue to imagine a world where humans settle their differences through negotiations rather than violence. I wish the message of the campus protestors was more centered on WINTA, rather than taking sides. Please encourage campus admin to have conversations with organizers to allow crowds time to disperse before police start arresting people. Apparently, that did not happen yesterday at UT-Austin.
I hope your meeting with King Abdullah goes well today.
BYBS,
RCA
