Category Archives: Homelessness

* The Gestapo librarian

May 28, 2014Get on your feet, Homelessness, The Way of PeaceHonesty, Officer Nasty, The Homeless Blogger, The ItchWilliam Tell

(Originally posted 08/04/12 at Trojan Horse Productions. Reblogged 12/27/18.)

Officer Nasty works security at the library. He doesn’t wait for trouble to happen or for someone to ask him for help. Instead, he constantly patrols the whole place looking for people who may be breaking the rules, so he can put them out. He walks up and down the narrow aisles of the computer center to see what you have on your screen. He comes into the men’s room hoping to catch someone in the act — act of what, I can’t imagine. You get the picture.

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* Practical advantages of being a nice guy

May 14, 2014Get on your feet, Homelessness, The Way of PeaceChoosing feelings, Telepathy, The Homeless Blogger, The Itch, Transpersonal psychologyWilliam Tell

(Originally posted 07/28/12 at Trojan Horse Productions. Reblogged 02/14/19.)

It’s been a long time since I last considered this; maybe because, for some months, there haven’t been that many jerks among us at the shelter. Whether the “spirit” I breathe out has anything to do with that, I don’t know.[1] But I was in the shower 07/01/12 and overheard that they’d run out of wash cloths, and that brought this to mind.

Just being a nice guy earns me concrete, practical rewards.

A number of mainstream people help me financially who definitely would not help a jerk.

If we’re in the smoke pit and I need to bum one, I’m far more likely to get one than would a jerk.

Last summer, there was a shortage of wash cloths, for reason that people were stealing them. At first, if you weren’t one of the first 40 to shower, you wouldn’t get one. Then it became 30. Then 20. Several guys, it turns out, actually donated wash cloths. I donated 15. They all disappeared.[2]

Some guys come to the clothes window and every day, it’s:
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* “Just how bad do you think you’ve got it?”

May 10, 2014Bible, Get on your feet, Homelessness, Poverty, The Way of PeaceAttitude of gratitude, Bootstraps, Life force, Parable of the Talents, StewardshipWilliam Tell

At the shelter, we’re required to attend chapel for an hour every night. I normally find it just as edifying as a traffic jam.

The group from “Guilford” presents on the fourth Monday every month. About a dozen of them come. Their leader is J_____ R__. Different ones preach in different months. When J_____ R__ preaches, the message is always the same.

“Just how bad do you think you’ve got it?”
Continue reading * “Just how bad do you think you’ve got it?” →

* When needs are met

May 3, 2014Dependency, Homelessness, National politics, OUR BEST POSTS, PovertyDevelopmental psychology, Entitlement, Infantilism, Presence, Self care, self-esteem, Selfishness, Tea Party, The Homeless BloggerWilliam Tell

This is the third of three posts about entitlement:
04/19 – “Entitlement(s): Attitude and policy”
04/26 – “How I became homeless”
Today – “When needs are met”

I have no trouble sharing my candy, when I have plenty.

Jim Snyder even offers people cigarettes, when he has plenty.

When needs are met, one becomes generous.
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* How I became homeless

April 26, 2014Bible, Homelessness1 Corithians 10:24, Astrology, Defects of character, Entitlement, God's plan, God's will, Homeless, How I became homeless, Monthly, Paul, Philippians 2:4, The Four Spiritual Laws, The Homeless BloggerWilliam Tell

This is the second of three posts about entitlement:
04/19 – “Entitlement(s): Attitude and policy”
Today – “How I became homeless”
05/03 – “When needs are met”

This is a long post. One may want to avail oneself of a navigation resource here.

———— ♦ ————

I don’t write about easy things.

At this writing, a more immediate question is how I’ve stayed homeless, which has prompted no small amount of anger and depression in recent weeks. The short answer appears to be that I’ve stayed homeless the same way I became homeless.

Continue reading * How I became homeless →

April 25, 2014HomelessnessJesus, Karma, ReincarnationWilliam Tell

“How I became homeless” is a long post that may be difficult to read at one sitting. The links here below can help. Clicking on any link here will take you to that part of the post; you can ALT-LEFT and ALT-RIGHT to return here, or back.

———— ♦ ————

[Introduction]
THE MUNDANE STORY …
THE SPIRITUAL STORY …
Virtues
Vices
Astrological influences
Bad theology
(1) God’s plan
(2) God’s will
(3) Self-denial and self-sacrifice
[Conclusion]

* Attitude …

April 16, 2014Get on your feet, Homelessness, The Way of PeaceChoosing feelings, Choosing thoughts, Radio talk show, Talk radio, Talk show host, The Homeless BloggerWilliam Tell

… can make a hard situation easy, or make an easy situation hard.

To enter the shelter, you walk across this parking lot to an iron gate, and then down these steps to the “smoke pit,” an 8 x 20′ area with benches where we sit until they call us in, in groups of six, to register for this night. One does this every day.

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* Make ’em all taxpayers

April 3, 2014Clippings, Dependency, Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, National politics, OUR BEST POSTS, Poverty, The William Tell Show47%, Affordable housing, Kathleen Parker, Minimum wage, Mitt RomneyWilliam Tell

Anticipating November, Democrats act desperately

Kathleen Parker says Democrats are pushing the minimum wage increase in a “desperate” effort to boost turnout at the midterm elections, whereas the proposal stands no chance of passing Congress.

As a policy of The William Tell Show, I’m more interested in an issue’s substance than in who will win.

The minimum wage increase may not be a good idea, but relates to numerous issues of personal concern to me.
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* Michael Jackson “son” hoax, and other notes

March 31, 2014Homelessness, Justice, National media, National news, National politics, Poverty, Science, The William Tell ShowAnimal souls, Columbine, Empathy, FilmOn, Income inequality, Names, ScandalWilliam Tell

Bookmarks:
Michael Jackson “son” hoax • Interspecies altruism • Zookeepers play Mama Bear
Screwed up names spell screwed up people • Scandal again • My first thought •
D.C. homeless housing crisis • Income inequality

Continue reading * Michael Jackson “son” hoax, and other notes →

* When prayer backfires

March 29, 2014Bible, HomelessnessA.A., Auras, Dreams, Healing, Jesus, John 5, Mark 10, Names, Prayer, Precognition, TelepathyWilliam Tell

One is unlikely to understand this without first reading “From my diary: Learning to pray.”

Bookmarks:
1. Don’t come uninvited.
2. You don’t need an invitation to love people.
3. Name names.
4. Word for word.
5. What you “see” is what you’ll get.
[Conclusion]

I consulted several Wikipedia articles in preparation for this post. All turned out to have been written by people who are hostile toward reports of anything that might involve a spiritual world.

As much as I try to give credit to all points of view, I cannot adopt the same position. My earliest memories are of the conviction that there is more to the world than we perceive with the five senses. Since I began practicing silence, I have seen auras. I have had precognitive visions and telepathic dreams. I was compelled on one occasion to pray for my worst enemy, only to learn later she’d just been through an event I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. In the fall of 1990 I was compelled to pray day after day for a woman I’d not met and had never heard of; only to find, when I moved to another state in January ’91 to attend grad school, she was one of my classmates and had an intense interest in healing prayer, as I also did. To deny these facts, I’d have to lie to myself more than I’m willing to.

There’s still the puzzle of unanswered prayer.
Continue reading * When prayer backfires →