I have been blessed to write this column for many years. I have written some things that inspire, and although I didn’t plan it that way – some things that made some angry.

Making people angry has never been my goal. However, I am always hopeful that my columns will make people think.

Over the years, I have received many emails from readers. Some tell me my columns inspire and even make them smile. Others say that sharing my faith from time to time encourages them.

Even so, I realize that not everyone will always agree or be inspired by what I write. And that’s fine. But inviting me to leave my country, the land of my birth, the one that I love — simply because I express my opinions about our current administration is absurd. And just plain mean.

After last Sunday’s column, I received two disturbing emails.

One person wrote:

“Couldn’t you do a Christmas message in your column without bringing politics into it? I used to read you and enjoy your columns – but no more. Don’t you realize your columns now express the same hatred that you accuse ‘the other side’ of promulgating? Please go back to writing the neighborly love type columns that you used to do – or perhaps you have become so embittered that it is time for you to retire from writing for the Herald. Look inward.” And she signed her name.

The second letter came from a man:

The writer went on to remind me of what other presidents had done wrong, namely “Sleepy Joe” (his name for President Biden, not mine), and presidents Obama and Clinton.

Then he said that I could “possibly be suffering from TDS [Trump derangement syndrome]” … and should seek “professional mental counseling asap… In addition, if you are NOT pleased with the current President policies, I would highly suggest that you consider packing up and relocating to another country in the interim time period elections are held…” And he signed his name, also.

I answered both letters.

Here is an excerpt of what I wrote to the gentleman:

“Thank you for your informative email. I am not writing to try to justify anything I said in my last column… I write always without malice. Still, [what I write] is my opinion… Sometimes my opinions make my readers angry. That’s OK, too. You criticized me for calling out some things I think are wrong in President Trump’s administration. But I pray for the Lord to bless him every day. And I have never called the President a derogatory name. I respect the office of the president too much to do that.”

Then, as I was putting the finishing touch to this column, I checked my emails to find another letter from the gentleman. While he stuck to his opinion, somehow this email was softer, gentler, with a subtle apology hidden between the lines.

He wrote:

“Thank you for your response to share your viewpoints. Please note that going forward I just truly hope that you will simply be more thoughtful with your personal public political views … so I as a long time subscriber of more than 50 years can continue to read it… and hopefully UNITE ALL residents in communities throughout the nation in lieu of creating FURTHER DIVISION… just like I will also try to do since I am NOT a perfect human being.”

Then there was a loosely worded semi-apology about his reference to former President Biden. “…Although I truly believe he was totally incompetent… perhaps he was not even aware… due to his poor mental cognitive state. Nevertheless, I as a human being feel truly sorry for his mental cognitive decline and for his current battle with prostate cancer that I do not wish upon anybody.”

His email caught me off guard. I didn’t expect to hear from him again. His email said to me that even if we don’t agree on the current politics of the country, we can be civilized about sharing our opinions. I thought it only fair to include excerpts of his email in this column.

Over the years I have grown a thick skin, and my feelings are not easily hurt. That’s because I have been through a lot in my life. I have been yelled at in the workplace, lied on, looked over and generally treated unfairly.

Yet, there were others in the same workplace who allowed me to use their shoulders as rungs to climb up the professional ladder. So, looking back, I am thankful for those who were unkind because they helped to make me stronger. And I am thankful for those who were kind to me, because they gave me encouragement and hope.

The two emails from people I have never met only served to strengthen my beliefs in the freedoms America affords me and all its citizens. They helped me to realize how important it is for me to stand up for what I believe in. I learned early in life not to let what others say about me dictate the kind of person, or writer, I would be.

I learned that speaking my mind about my faith or my concern about the way our country is being run doesn’t make me a bad, unpatriotic person. It simply makes me an American who believes that our country can and must be better.

It also means that as an opinion writer, I can use this space to call out the wrong I see happening around me and during any presidential administration for as long as we are a free country. I have been given this right under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Yet, to some people, having an opinion that goes against the norm of some means I am disrespectful. So, while I have never allowed what people say or think about me affect how I live and what I believe, it is sad to me that some people would want to deny me the right, as an American, to express myself.

Because I don’t agree with everything President Trump does doesn’t make me a bad American. I like to tell people who are afraid to call out our president, what I used to tell my sons when they were growing up. I told them I loved them, but I would never uphold them in any wrongdoing. Ditto for President Trump.

I believe that if we – all Americans – love and respect the office of the president, we know that we must not look away when President Trump, or any other president, does or says something distasteful to bring shame to our country. Americans and the entire world are watching him.

Whether we admit it or not, what the president does or says matters. And calling him out does not mean I am anti-Trump. It means that I am a pro-American who wants a better America. And as America’s president, I want Mr. Trump to do better.

In my heart, I believe that my email pen pal agrees with me.

I have been blessed to write this column for many years. I have written some things that inspire, and although I didn’t plan it that way – some things that made some angry.

Making people angry has never been my goal. However, I am always hopeful that my columns will make people think.

Over the years, I have received many emails from readers. Some tell me my columns inspire and even make them smile. Others say that sharing my faith from time to time encourages them.

Even so, I realize that not everyone will always agree or be inspired by what I write. And that’s fine. But inviting me to leave my country, the land of my birth, the one that I love — simply because I express my opinions about our current administration is absurd. And just plain mean.

After last Sunday’s column, I received two disturbing emails.

One person wrote:

“Couldn’t you do a Christmas message in your column without bringing politics into it? I used to read you and enjoy your columns – but no more. Don’t you realize your columns now express the same hatred that you accuse ‘the other side’ of promulgating? Please go back to writing the neighborly love type columns that you used to do – or perhaps you have become so embittered that it is time for you to retire from writing for the Herald. Look inward.” And she signed her name.

The second letter came from a man:

The writer went on to remind me of what other presidents had done wrong, namely “Sleepy Joe” (his name for President Biden, not mine), and presidents Obama and Clinton.

Then he said that I could “possibly be suffering from TDS [Trump derangement syndrome]” … and should seek “professional mental counseling asap… In addition, if you are NOT pleased with the current President policies, I would highly suggest that you consider packing up and relocating to another country in the interim time period elections are held…” And he signed his name, also.

I answered both letters.

Here is an excerpt of what I wrote to the gentleman:

“Thank you for your informative email. I am not writing to try to justify anything I said in my last column… I write always without malice. Still, [what I write] is my opinion… Sometimes my opinions make my readers angry. That’s OK, too. You criticized me for calling out some things I think are wrong in President Trump’s administration. But I pray for the Lord to bless him every day. And I have never called the President a derogatory name. I respect the office of the president too much to do that.”

Then, as I was putting the finishing touch to this column, I checked my emails to find another letter from the gentleman. While he stuck to his opinion, somehow this email was softer, gentler, with a subtle apology hidden between the lines.

He wrote:

“Thank you for your response to share your viewpoints. Please note that going forward I just truly hope that you will simply be more thoughtful with your personal public political views … so I as a long time subscriber of more than 50 years can continue to read it… and hopefully UNITE ALL residents in communities throughout the nation in lieu of creating FURTHER DIVISION… just like I will also try to do since I am NOT a perfect human being.”

Then there was a loosely worded semi-apology about his reference to former President Biden. “…Although I truly believe he was totally incompetent… perhaps he was not even aware… due to his poor mental cognitive state. Nevertheless, I as a human being feel truly sorry for his mental cognitive decline and for his current battle with prostate cancer that I do not wish upon anybody.”

His email caught me off guard. I didn’t expect to hear from him again. His email said to me that even if we don’t agree on the current politics of the country, we can be civilized about sharing our opinions. I thought it only fair to include excerpts of his email in this column.

Over the years I have grown a thick skin, and my feelings are not easily hurt. That’s because I have been through a lot in my life. I have been yelled at in the workplace, lied on, looked over and generally treated unfairly.

Yet, there were others in the same workplace who allowed me to use their shoulders as rungs to climb up the professional ladder. So, looking back, I am thankful for those who were unkind because they helped to make me stronger. And I am thankful for those who were kind to me, because they gave me encouragement and hope.

The two emails from people I have never met only served to strengthen my beliefs in the freedoms America affords me and all its citizens. They helped me to realize how important it is for me to stand up for what I believe in. I learned early in life not to let what others say about me dictate the kind of person, or writer, I would be.

I learned that speaking my mind about my faith or my concern about the way our country is being run doesn’t make me a bad, unpatriotic person. It simply makes me an American who believes that our country can and must be better.

It also means that as an opinion writer, I can use this space to call out the wrong I see happening around me and during any presidential administration for as long as we are a free country. I have been given this right under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Yet, to some people, having an opinion that goes against the norm of some means I am disrespectful. So, while I have never allowed what people say or think about me affect how I live and what I believe, it is sad to me that some people would want to deny me the right, as an American, to express myself.

Because I don’t agree with everything President Trump does doesn’t make me a bad American. I like to tell people who are afraid to call out our president, what I used to tell my sons when they were growing up. I told them I loved them, but I would never uphold them in any wrongdoing. Ditto for President Trump.

I believe that if we – all Americans – love and respect the office of the president, we know that we must not look away when President Trump, or any other president, does or says something distasteful to bring shame to our country. Americans and the entire world are watching him.

Whether we admit it or not, what the president does or says matters. And calling him out does not mean I am anti-Trump. It means that I am a pro-American who wants a better America. And as America’s president, I want Mr. Trump to do better.

In my heart, I believe that my email pen pal agrees with me.