A letter to brother Pete ... 

8/22/18

Dear Pete,

It has been a long time since we have shared thoughts, so I thought I'd send a fairly long email, just as a way of starting a conversation with my dear oldest brother. 

All is well with us Salsichs in Connecticut. Delycia and I have renewed our membership at the local YMCA, and we’ve been having some wonderful workouts there. Today, I walked on one of the treadmill machines for about 60 minutes — not real fast, but enough to get the old heart pumping a little faster — and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was thinking, as I worked on the machine, that being in the workout room with many other people, many of them my age and older, all of whom were working just as hard as I was, enabled me to be part of a genuine “community” — like we were all “one” in our efforts to stay healthy. It may have helped that I was listening on my headphones, as I worked out, to a spiritual talk about the “oneness” of all things in the Universe. I’m sure that helped me enjoy the workout as much as I did. 

Speaking of health, I’m doing quite well in that area, although my skin has been giving me some problems lately. The dermatologist found some cells of squamous cancer on the my leg, and so I had some special surgery (called Mohs) to remove it. What was so interesting about the surgery was that the surgeon, just before beginning the procedure, pulled out his cellphone and said, “Let’s see. What shall we listen to today? Shall it be Moby Dick? (He was scrolling through titles on his phone.) Shall it be Chaucer? Ah, here it is — the biography of Martin Luther!” And so, as the surgery began (I was wide awake), so also began, over a speaker, an audio reading of the life of Martin Luther! I was amazed as I lay there. The surgery took only about 15 minutes, but I still learned quite a lot about Luther! It was truly one of the most surprising things that’s ever happened to me in the world of medicine. 

My spiritual life has been good, Pete. Delycia and I have been attending the Quaker meeting for worship on Sundays, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know “the Quaker way”. I’ve also kept up with my daily study of scripture and related materials. This week I’ve been reading and thinking about passages having to do with “wisdom”, like the story in Ecclesiastes where one “poor wise man” helped save a city from attack by a powerful army. The Bible says, “The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him who rules among fools.” I couldn’t help thinking immediately about our political situation, where “fools” are trying to rule, while truly wise people are rarely being heard. It’s also become more clear to me in my study this week that true wisdom doesn’t have to come from book-learning, as Joseph and Mary discovered when young teen-age Jesus was found hanging out with the elders in the temple, where “all that heard him were astonished at his understanding.” Don’t children often seem to have a strange and deep kind of wisdom? I’ll bet you’ve seen that with your grandchildren. Pete, I would love it if you would share some of your thoughts about the spiritual life. I could surely use a good conversation like that with my brother. 

We are heading off to the UK next Wednesday for about 9 days of walking. We have signed up with a tour company that leads walks all over England, and we’ll be staying at one of the guest houses they own, which are actually elegant old “manor houses” which the company purchased over the years. Each morning, we’ll be setting out for a fairly easy guided walk, sometimes for 5-6 miles, along the coast of Cornwall. We’ve never been to that part of England before, and we’re excited about seeing the hills and cliffs leading down to the sea. Obviously, I feel damn lucky that I can do trips like this. I guess, in general, gratitude is one of my strongest and steadiest feelings these days.

Our kids are doing well. I’m happy to say that they all seem to be seekers of the inner light – all realizing, in different ways, that there’s a far greater power in this universe than material wealth. Matt, as an example, is spending 4 days this week, alone, up at our sister Cathy’s “retreat cabin” in upstate New York. He’s going to “fast” to a certain degree, and has also brought few or none of the gimmicks (phone, laptop, etc) most of use to keep entertained. He wants to see what happens when distractions are gone and solitude takes over – and I admire him for that. 

I’ll close by telling a wonderful memory I have of you. I recall seeing you - I think in the basement at 1517 Holly Drive – working on detailed model airplanes. I remember, as maybe a 9-year-old, admiring you for being able to put together these planes that seemed to have thousands of tiny pieces. “Gosh, my talented big brother,” I probably thought. Do you recall that hobby of yours?  

I love you, Pete — and Barbara and your whole beautiful family.

With gratitude, always, 

Ham.