Category Archives: OUR BEST POSTS

o About silence

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Here is the second portion of the book The Way of Peace, the first portion of which appeared yesterday.

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MEDITATION

Meditation is not the whole of the Way, any more than flour is the whole of cookies. If you want cookies, you must also have butter, sugar, and perhaps eggs, in addition to flour. Flour is essential, however. Likewise as to the Way, meditation is so essential, as to move me to say this: if you have any interest in learning the Way, and do not now have a discipline of meditation, you should start one now — right now — before even reading the rest of this book.
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o The Way of Peace

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In 2010, I set out to write a little book that would set forth exactly what I believe Jesus really taught. I entitled it The Way of Peace.  Here is the first section of that text, entitled “ABOUT THIS BOOK.”

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Matthew 11:28-30: Jesus said,

Come to me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; …
and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

All my life, I have been concerned for people who seemed to me to have a harder lot than they deserved — who were loaded down with heavy burdens.

In time, I came to see that I likewise carried needless heavy burdens.

Life is difficult enough even without them. Jesus speaks here of a way to live without them. Life’s inherent difficulties cannot be avoided. Needless difficulties can be avoided, and one’s life will be far more pleasant as a result. I humbly believe I have come to understand what Jesus meant, and that is what I seek to set forth here.
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* The path of presence

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Thursday, May 1, 2014.  For several days, I’ve sought a sign as to whether presence is, indeed, the way to go.  No answer could be clearer than my experience this afternoon.  I’ve gone through exactly the transition described in “Chaos overwhelms the poor.”  I have power and competence to deal with my current circumstances, with the resources at hand.  I perceive the universe as a well-ordered place.  This cosmic harmony provides the foundation for hope.  I may soon be able to face with confidence the unknown, uncertain future.

That I did all this on my own raises the question of whether there exists, in the end, the unseen world.  I have that answer already; I’ve been in this place before.

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From “Chaos overwhelms the poor:”

Jesus and others have taught an approach to life that enables one to learn to care for oneself and begin to establish harmony in one’s immediate situation.
Continue reading * The path of presence →

* Carter Scott, Karma and Chaos

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(Originally published 06/05/13 at Trojan Horse Productions.  Reblogged 01/17/19.)

Short life of Carter Scott marred by accusations of family violence

It’s difficult to start this post, as the story’s prone to leave one speechless.

What sort of karma would impel a child to be born into that context?

At the shelter, we’re compelled to attend chapel every night. A different preacher comes each night, in a monthly rotation. These generally disappoint me in their utter failure to speak to the sort of situation in question here. About 40% of the presenters are preoccupied wholly with what will become of your soul when you die; whether you’ll go to heaven or hell; and your need to “believe in Jesus” as the key to salvation. It’s all about a cognitive assent, saying “yes” to a certain set of ideas. There is no presentation of Christianity as a lifestyle, nor any discussion of the role of discipline in following Jesus.

Another 40% of the presenters are preoccupied wholly with obtaining “blessings,” principally by the means of praise: “When the praises go up, the blessings come down.” A “blessing” here is always a material, for example monetary, advantage that one has done nothing to earn. It is as if God were some cosmic King Lear jealous for flattery.

Neither group mentions the call to repent, in terms of any need to change one’s ways.

The only hell that concerns me is the living hell that folk create in this life, here and now, for themselves and their community.
Continue reading * Carter Scott, Karma and Chaos →

* The wandering will

Get on your feet, OUR BEST POSTS, Poverty, Science, The Way of Peace, , , , , , , ,

Cartesian space
A vector in a three-dimensional space.

I envision the emotional or spiritual world as a ten-dimensional space, in which a vector (arrow) beginning at the origin (the center of the space) depicts a person’s emotional state at any point in time.  The vector’s length indicates the intensity of one’s emotions at a given moment, while its direction indicates what kinds of feelings those are — equal parts joy and sadness, for example, or some anger and much love.

These are the energies one is emanating at that moment, the kinds of light or darkness one creates.
Continue reading * The wandering will →

* Easily breakable

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(Originally posted 08/25/12 at Trojan Horse Productions.  Reblogged 09/13/18.)

06/25/12 I had to buy another flash drive.

I was downloading the music for The William Tell Show. I backed up the .mp3 files by attaching them to e-mails to myself. Problem: some files, such as the first movement of Tchaikovski’s violin concerto, exceed 25 MB and can’t be attached to a Yahoo! e-mail. What to do? Get another flash drive, to back up just those files.

My current flash drive consisted of an aluminum sleeve wrapped around a flat plastic stick. The stick had the USB contacts at one end, and the other end was shaped into a hook. By moving the sleeve back and forth, you could either expose the USB contacts for use, or hide them and expose the hook, to clip the drive onto, say, a key ring for storage.

The clerk offered me a different kind, with no hook or loop or anything that would let me attach it to something for storage. I don’t want to carry the drive around loose in my pocket or bag. So I asked for another like the one I already have. She said people have had trouble with those because “they’re easily breakable.” She said the staff at the Public Computer Center had seen this so much that they asked for the new kind instead.

I smiled and said nothing.

The drives aren’t easily breakable. Rather, some people easily break them.

Continue reading * Easily breakable →

* When needs are met

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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.
Continue reading * When needs are met →

* The human being’s infinite capacity for evil

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(Originally posted 02/23/13 at Trojan Horse Productions.  Reblogged 08/23/18.)

Colo. teen heard on 911 call saying he killed girl

Jessica Lynn Howell

‘Why is it dark?’ asks blinded Chinese boy

Man Accused In Rape Of Toddler Breaks Down Door To Get To Victim: Police

Arthur Morgan, III
Man gets life for tossing daughter, 2, into creek
Lawyer: NJ dad doesn’t deny tossing toddler in creek

‘I hate this life’ – Slain girl’s journals focus of grandmother’s murder trial

* What the little birds told me

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(Originally published 07/21/12 at Trojan Horse Productions.  Reblogged 08/09/18.)

The pigeons. Years ago, when I had an office job downtown, I’d wait for the bus every afternoon on the south side of Baltimore Street one or two blocks east of Charles. Often, someone tossed down several handfuls of torn-up bread for the birds to eat, and I’d have time to watch them.

For the most part, the pigeons acted just as you’d expect: eating together, share and share alike. But I noticed one individual whose conduct was quite different. This guy never picked up any food from the ground. He never seemed to notice any food on the ground. Instead, he’d notice what someone else was eating, and go over and take it away from that person. Time and time again, he did this.

Put this fellow down on top of a pile of food, and he’d starve to death, because he’d never pick up any for himself. Put another pigeon with him, and he’d be OK — taking away what the other one picks up to eat.

How much closer can you get to the way some people act; who will not do anything for themselves, but only take away what someone else has worked for? Can there be a gene for this?

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When I lived in Barclay, I maintained a bird feeder in the back yard — different locations, but always visible from the kitchen window. Two species used to visit the feeder in flocks: sparrows and starlings. There might be fifty sparrows or fifty starlings there at a time.

Continue reading * What the little birds told me →

* Make ’em all taxpayers

Clippings, Dependency, Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, National politics, OUR BEST POSTS, Poverty, The William Tell Show, , , ,

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.
Continue reading * Make ’em all taxpayers →