3/19/2025

My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,

            Do you look like your mother? You certainly have her coloring. I look like mine. So much so, that I thought photos taken of of her in 1940 were taken of me. I used to hate it when people told me about the resemblance, but now that I have a daughter that looks like me, I appreciate our Roman noses & high cheekbones.

I’m thinking about family resemblance because we have a new member of our tribe, an 8 lb boy born to my niece yesterday.

            Speaking of babies, don’t you wish you could sing a lullaby to the whole world, to calm everyone down & help them to see that at this very minute they can relax? Then those cease fires you are trying to negotiate in Gaza & Ukraine might take hold. VVP would not have to fear NATO & could stop investing 9% of his GDP into defense spending. High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, could stop insisting that countries increase their defense spending. We could all take a deep breath & stop fearing our neighbors.

            As the peacekeeping POTUS, you could start a new ethos here at home by educating folks about the dangers of homophily. That’s a fancy word for the idea that “birds of a feather flock together,” an instinct growing out of the reptilian part of our brains that makes us seek out others who look like our mothers & siblings. It’s linked to the part of our flight or fight make-up that causes us to fear “strangers.” Jesus taught us we don’t have to do that. You could remind us of his lessons & encourage us to befriend folks who look different than we do.

            That’s a message that the people of Yeongyang county in South Korea need to hear. Some there are unhappy that 10 Karen refugee families from Burma might come to live in their midst. Their locale was chosen because the population is dwindling. Only about 25 babies are born in the county each year, while roughly 300 people die. Women all over Korea are hesitant to have babies, so they really need an influx of people. Being less xenophobic would help.

            The same diminishing population is true for many rural parts of the USA. So, let’s spread the word to be welcoming to those who don’t look like us. I want my new great-nephew to grow up in a friendly world.

            BYBS,