Category Archives: The Way of Peace

* Change Begins Here

December 15, 2014Get on your feet, Justice, The Way of PeacePresence, Random Words, The Homeless Blogger, Tracey SeekinsWilliam Tell

This is square-on with a forthcoming post of my own, “A place to begin.”

Reblogged 2020-08-06.

Random Words

I woke up this morning thinking about change. Thinking about how we begin to change our world, one person at a time. That’s exactly it. We create change one person at a time, one action at a time, one THOUGHT at a time.

Change begins with us and within us. The world will not become a better place by leaving it up to someone else. Change will not happen as long as we believe things are not our problem or that we don’t make a difference.

Change begins within us. By changing how we see ourselves and treat ourselves, we begin to change the way we see others and treat others. By changing how we see others and treat others, we begin a ripple effect that reaches out over the miles changing how others see and treat each other.

Change does not and will not happen overnight, but over time…

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* When you can’t get what you want

September 17, 2014Get on your feet, Motivations, The Way of PeaceChoosing feelings, Choosing thoughts, Delaying gratification, Forego, Get on your feet, Here - Now - Can, Sacrifice, Stewardship, The Homeless Blogger, Will habitsWilliam Tell

(Originally published July 5, 2013 at Trojan Horse Productions. Reblogged 2019-12-19.)

There is a song from The Sound of Music that relates; it concludes, “… I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad.”

Wednesday morning I stood outside McDonald’s having my last smoke before leaving. I considered that as soon as I got to the library, I’d need to count my pennies and plan spending for the rest of the week. I pondered whether or not to buy a soda on my way there. I’d had some unusual spending earlier in the week, and faced some more unusual spending in connection with the 4th of July (The library’s closed.). The wisdom of having bought or not bought a soda at this time would depend on the outcome of that planning.

Continue reading * When you can’t get what you want →

* Rainbows

August 27, 2014Bible, OUR BEST POSTS, Science, The Way of PeaceWilliam Tell

(Originally published 2013-07-04 at Trojan Horse Productions. Reblogged 2019-10-02.)

Baltimore is more likely than other places, to have weather when you can see rainbows. We are coming now into a period when this is especially so. We will probably have another such time again in September.

The key to seeing rainbows is, three things have to happen at the same time:
(1) The sun is shining
(2) while it rains, and
(3) there is blue sky somewhere.
Continue reading * Rainbows →

* In playground murder, 12-year-old boy charged as an adult

August 25, 2014Clippings, Dependency, Homelessness, National news, The Way of Peace, World NewsAl-Anon, Alcoholism, Carolyn Hax, Jamarion Lawhorn, Keep the focus on you, Marlene Pinnock, Names, Russia, UkraineWilliam Tell

Bookmarks:
In playground murder, 12-year-old boy charged as an adult • Homeless woman beaten by cop speaks out • Russian “aid” convoy in Ukraine • First steps in dealing with a problem drinker

Continue reading * In playground murder, 12-year-old boy charged as an adult →

* Was there a Jesus? If so, what was he like?

July 23, 2014Bible, OUR BEST POSTS, The Way of Peace, Yahoo! Voiceshistorical Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Seminar, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Presence, Scott Morrison, Synoptic GospelsWilliam Tell

In many cases, you can strip away the fictions surrounding a legendary figure, and discover the historical original.

For example, there probably was a King Arthur.

Troy was a real place, and the Trojan War a real event. Achilles, Odysseus and Agamemnon were probably real people.

What about the Jesus of the Bible?

Circumstantial evidence exists to suggest there probably was such a person. Textual evidences are available to suggest what he may have been like. He may or may not have been as Christianity presents.
Continue reading * Was there a Jesus? If so, what was he like? →

* Unlocking the vision

July 19, 2014Bible, Career goals, Get on your feet, Motivations, OUR BEST POSTS, The Way of PeaceEvangelism, Proverbs 29:18William Tell

Proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

I saw it any number of times while teaching: give a child a musical instrument, or the discovery of any other talent, whether art, or sports, or some special interest; and it just transforms that life. The vision of the excellence he or she can achieve, the beauty she or he can create, unlocks vast positive energies. The mediocre-at-best student comes to excel in every subject. The child who was awkward and socially withdrawn begins to shine.
Continue reading * Unlocking the vision →

* Un[b]locking the spirit

July 12, 2014Bible, Science, The Way of PeaceAuras, Chakras, Edgar Cayce, Jesus, Mark 5:30, Mark 9:2-3, Meditation, Prayer, Serotonin, Silence, The TransfigurationWilliam Tell

Pray for yourself first.

When you pray for someone, you become a channel through which the Holy Spirit (or “Life Force”) flows to address that person’s needs. (See Mark 5:30.) You may or may not perceive this flow as it happens.

The Spirit must first address any deficiencies in the channel itself, before it can optimally address the other person. In particular, the Spirit must address any emotional imbalances that may exist in the person who intends to pray. Without this adjustment, at best the Spirit’s flow will be constricted; at worst, the channel may project his or her own needs (e.g. anxieties, aches and pains) onto the patient.
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* The New Life Clinic

June 30, 2014OUR BEST POSTS, The Way of PeaceAmbrose Worrall, New Life Clinic, Olga Worrall, Prayer, Spiritual healingWilliam Tell

I recently came across the web page for The New Life Clinic. This appears to be new. It’s modest, but says enough.

The New Life Clinic

The New Life Clinic happens at Mt. Washington United Methodist Church, 5800 Cottonworth Av., Baltimore, MD at noon every Thursday. The service lasts about an hour, and includes individual prayer with the laying on of hands.

I’d encourage anyone in Baltimore to go.

They’ve always kept a very low profile. In 2013, not sure whether the New Life Clinic was still in operation, I phoned the church office. The pre-recorded message didn’t mention it. Yet the services I’ve attended were all standing-room-only with people who’d come from all over the world; many of them also patients at one of Baltimore’s world-class hospitals.

I seek to model my practice on theirs.

(Reblogged 04/11/19.)

* This Ancient Philosophy Is What We Desperately Need In Our Modern Lives

June 21, 2014Clippings, The Way of PeaceCarolyn Gregoire, Chade-Meng Tan, Emotional intelligence, Meditation, Prayer, Presence, StoicismWilliam Tell

Another link from Brian Williard:

This Ancient Philosophy Is What We Desperately Need In Our Modern Lives

Growing up, all the word “Stoic” meant to me was keeping a stiff upper lip in the face of adversity.

Not until 1989, when I was taking the Synoptics course at St. Mary’s Seminary, did I learn — from Sean Freyne’s The World of the New Testament, which I highly recommend for many reasons — that there is a great deal more to it, including much to like.

Stoicism is a life of ordered joy.

As you read this article, please note the many similarities between the approach to life described there, and the things I have said here about presence.

Carolyn Gregoire also wrote the first article I mentioned about emotional intelligence, “How emotionally intelligent are you?”

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And yet another link from Brian Williard:

Google’s ‘Jolly Good Fellow’ On The Power Of Emotional Intelligence

Looks like links to Carolyn Gregoire are becoming pretty common on this blog.

Don’t scoff at the headline. From the gentleman in question here, Chade-Meng Tan, comes another ringing endorsement of meditation and presence as I have discussed them. I note that the first exercise described in the article is tantamount to what I call prayer, and practically the same as I proposed in “You don’t need an invitation to love people.“

(Reblogged 2019-03-14.)

o Here – Now – Can

June 15, 2014The Way of PeaceChoosing feelings, Choosing thoughts, Here - Now - Can, PresenceWilliam Tell

Here is the third chapter of The Way of Peace. The first two chapters appeared Friday and yesterday.

APPLICATION

We are considering the human being as having, so to speak, three intimately interconnected “bodies:” (a) a material, physical body of flesh, that engages in behavior and acts on other material objects; (b) a body that thinks, is composed of and acts on ideas (ideation), which we may call the “mind;” and (c) a body of emotions, or feelings or “affects” (all the same thing), which we may call the “soul”.

Our thesis is that a single set of disciplines, involving all three “bodies,” can yield a state of being I have called “peace of mind,” which is tantamount to what Jesus called “the Kingdom;” and, in short, maximize one’s opportunities for tranquility and happiness in life.
Continue reading o Here – Now – Can →