Tag Archives: Presence

* The great questions of our time

April 18, 2015Career goals, Get on your feet, Homelessness, Local news, National media, OUR BEST POSTS, The Way of Peace, The William Tell ShowChoosing feelings, Here - Now - Can, Presence, Racial resentment, Racism, Sandtown-Winchester, Sean McElweeWilliam Tell

In recent weeks it has been a matter of some chagrin to me that my Yahoo! News feed keeps bringing articles from major outlets that prove in my estimation to have far less merit than my own; while my own work continues to be ignored.

Frankly, it seems to me that my work is on a par with that of the Washington Post columnists. I see myself as in that league. If I can find my way there, my goal would be not so much to set forth my own views, as to alter the direction of public discourse; to influence, perhaps even at a national level, the way people talk about the great questions of our time.

Continue reading * The great questions of our time →

* Hell has an exit.

March 14, 2015Bible, HomelessnessAcceptance, Atheists, Awe, Choosing feelings, Choosing thoughts, Embracing what is, Here - Now - Can, Jeffrey Tayler, Jurgen Moltmann, Presence, Psalm 8, Serenity prayer, What IsWilliam Tell

“Embracing what is,” a four-part series:
• As seen on TV: The new, improved hubris
• Belief: The unforgivable sin
• Rationalism cannot save us.
• Hell has an exit.

———— ♦ ————

Connect the dots however you like. Can you connect them all?

The Serenity Prayer does not depend on belief in God, but rather expresses basic principles of life:

God, grant me
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

This pertains to where one directs one’s attention, how one chooses to feel, and where one focuses one’s desires. These are acts not of the mind, but of the will.

Jeffrey Tayler says, “Given the possibility that terrorists may acquire weapons of mass destruction and nuclear states with faith-based conflicts may let fly their missiles, religion may be said to endanger humanity as a whole. No one who cares about our future can quietly abide the continuing propagation and influence of apocalyptic fables that large numbers of people take seriously and not raise a loud, persistent, even strident cry of alarm.”[15]

Fact: those who direct Iran’s nuclear program aren’t likely to listen to an atheist American Islamophobe.

Continue reading * Hell has an exit. →

* A place to begin

December 27, 2014Bible, Get on your feet, Homelessness, OUR BEST POSTS, PovertyAcceptance, Dan Rodricks, Dual diagnosis, Jesus, John 9:1-3, Panhandling, Presence, The Homeless BloggerWilliam Tell

John 9:1-3:

¹As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

The disciples want to place blame. Their posture can be referred to as fault-finding, judgment and condemnation. Jesus calls attention to the opportunity to heal, to do good, to make a beginning.

Continue reading * A place to begin →

* Status report: A snapshot of my life right now

December 20, 2014Get on your feet, Justice, UncategorizedAttribution, Here - Now - Can, Hope, Keep the focus on you, Presence, Race, The Homeless Blogger, Upward mobilityWilliam Tell

On Tuesday 12/02, my therapist asked for a thumbnail summary of my overall situation.

I said, “I have goals, I’m taking concrete steps toward those goals, and I have a ton of hope.”

I know no way to account for this but the exact scenario I set forth in “Chaos overwhelms the poor:” I pay attention only to the concrete here-and-how, and to what I myself can do. (Related: Here – Now – Can.) From the farthest reach of my right fingertip to my right, to the farthest reach of my left fingertip to my left: within that range lies all my responsibility, everything that I can control. Here, the world appears orderly. Here, I can order and manage my affairs. Here I have power. I can act effectively. I can easily find hope.

A ton of hope.
Continue reading * Status report: A snapshot of my life right now →

* 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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* Coming abstractions

October 25, 2014ScienceAmbrose Worrall, Centeredness, Emmet Fox, Happiness, Karma, Presence, Take things in stride, The Homeless BloggerWilliam Tell

On Friday, July 25, I emerged from my devotional time exceptionally centered, and I stayed that way for hours. Nothing like this has happened to me before. It raised a number of new questions and resurrected many old ones.

Continue reading * Coming abstractions →

* Becoming William Tell

September 20, 2014Career goals, Get on your feet, Homelessness, Motivations, The William Tell ShowAmbrose Worrall, Free Speech Handbook, Indulgence, Presence, The Homeless Blogger, Treatment-resistantWilliam Tell

This begins with an e-mail exchange between follower Vikkilyn and myself, back in May.

Wednesday, 05/21/14: Me: Recent events[1] suggest it’s time for me to get more serious about “becoming” William Tell. There are some emotional obstacles there, so it’s going to take some work, and seeing this, it’s easy for me to grasp why William Tell hasn’t “happened” yet. I’ll get through it.

Tuesday, 05/27/14: Vikkilyn: Not sure what you mean by “becoming” William Tell? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tell What part of William Tell do you want to be? (I realize that is your “stage name” but you must have picked it for some reason, after all you have written a lot about the power in a name.)

This post includes many footnotes. To get to any footnote, click on the link in the body of the text. When you’re done reading the footnote, ALT+LEFT will return you to your original place in the text.

Continue reading * Becoming William Tell →

* My cup runneth over

August 9, 2014Career goals, Get on your feet, Motivations, SqualorCareer goals, Keep the focus on you, McDonald's #2763, Presence, SqualorWilliam Tell

Friday, May 16, 2014. There were a number of events at McD this morning that normally would have distracted me, and did not. This suggests that presence is becoming habitual — as is focus on my goals. But there may be more involved.

Roy and Jimmy sat in a booth near me, and Roy was complaining that the clothes they give him at the clothes window at the shelter aren’t always the right size. He also, to my amazement, complained about the food. I answered him silently, “If you were focused on advancing your own situation, you wouldn’t be concerned about those things.”

In the past, it has been a powerful distraction to me (scandal, offense) that so many men around me have no interest in improving their lives.
Continue reading * My cup runneth over →

* Chaos overwhelms the poor

August 6, 2014Bible, Dependency, Justice, OUR BEST POSTS, Poverty, SqualorAnandi Mani, Chaos, Delaying gratification, Evangelism, Infantilism, Jesus, Presence, Serotonin, TohuWilliam Tell

Some weeks ago, I stood in line awaiting check-in at the shelter. This place charges $3 a night. I was holding my money in my hand, and someone playfully tugged at it. I snapped. I said, “You don’t value your life much, do you?”

Minutes later, I explained this to someone else. I said, “Don’t take a man’s last dollar.” “Why not?” he asked. I said, ” ‘Cause that’s the one he’ll die for. That’s the one he’ll kill for.”

Don’t take my last dollar. That’s the one I’ll kill for.

I’ve been on hard times since 2004. If I lose, or am robbed or cheated, of $20 or $50, that’s a pretty significant amount. But it doesn’t hurt all that much if I have more, and know more is coming. However, if I lose, or someone robs or cheats me of my last $1 — that’s the one that really hurts. That’s the one I’ll kill for.

These memories came to me as I reflected on Maggie Fox’s 08/29/2013 article, “Poor people aren’t stupid; bad decisions are from being overwhelmed, study finds.”
Continue reading * Chaos overwhelms the poor →

* 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? →