Category Archives: Homelessness

I don’t believe in belief. Here’s why.

October 14, 2021Bible, Homelessness, Thursday postsBelief, Believe, Delusions, Dual diagnosis, Faith, Heart and soul, Prayer, Twelve StepsWilliam Tell

Arnie (not his real name) has been the sole student of my course on effective prayer.

Sunday after church he told me he’d found a couple online resources about effective prayer, that he hoped we could review together. Each of them begins with the necessity of “belief.”

When he said this, I became nervous. There are many such sources online, but I’m not comfortable with them. On the one hand, trying to make myself “believe” that the outcome I pray for is inevitable, feels too much like wading into the world of delusion. On the other hand, although there are many New Testament references to “belief” in connection with prayer, I’m convinced that either (a) those expressions don’t come from the historical Jesus himself, or else (b) Jesus used that term to mean something very different from what we normally take it to mean today.

None of those whom I regard as experts in the field ever refer to belief this way. Never. Not once. Ever.

By Monday afternoon, I would feel my reservations had been powerfully confirmed.

A job at Popeye’s won’t get me my own place.

October 7, 2021Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, National news, Science, Thursday postsAnimal souls, Minimum wageWilliam Tell

Bookmarks:
A job at Popeye’s • Animal souls •

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First steps toward silence

October 2, 2021Homelessness, Motivations, OUR BEST POSTS, The Way of PeaceAmbrose Worrall, Choosing feelings, Choosing thoughts, Conservatives, Here - Now - Can, Mindfulness, Prayer, Presence, Self-management, Silence, Social conservativesWilliam Tell

A Friend posted this on FaceBook:

Someone commented, “I don’t know how to stop thinking. Not until I lay down at night. Brain is always busy with something. Wish I could turn it off.”

Here I will seek to meet that person’s need.

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A solution for homelessness?

September 30, 2021Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, Local news, National news, Thursday posts, World NewsCarter Scott, Crime, Dual diagnosis, Housing First, McDonald's, McDonald's #2763, Rapid rehousing, Terrence McCoyWilliam Tell

Bookmarks:
Meet the outsider who accidentally solved chronic homelessness • McDonald’s issues again • Carter Scott update

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The Freddie Gray demonstrations

September 2, 2021Bible, Homelessness, Local media, Local news, National media, Thursday postsChuck Modiano, Demonstrations, Deuteronomy 30:11-14, False prophecy, Freddie Gray, Here - Now - Can, Riots, What IsWilliam Tell

As of Monday, 04/27/15, let me say this. We had five days of completely orderly demonstrations. Only after that did the interlopers arrive, and only after that did any trouble begin.

Everybody, I think, wants certain things. We want to find out the facts. We want appropriate prosecutions, if warranted. We want …

I’ve just read this article, which indicates interlopers were indeed allowed to address the crowd at the original gathering Saturday 2015-04-25. They said things I do not believe any native Baltimorean would have said. They had to rationalize their presence, and in my judgment, failed.

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