I’ve just re-published my book. Check it out!
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Music: Ringo Starr, “It don’t come easy” https://thehomelessblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/it-dont-come-easy.mp3
Script:
It’s the William Tell Show. I call myself William Tell; you can call me Bill. Thank you for including me in your world; it’s wonderful to be included.
At this point, there have been no leaks from the Fani Willis grand jury in Atlanta. I am eagerly anticipat-ing Donald Trump’s indictment for election interference in Georgia.
A few days ago, I released 31 blog posts at once, one after another, each one dated for a different day in May. These constitute, each one a different chapter of my book, The Way of Peace; so that now the entire book appears all in one place, on my blog, in the form of blog posts. I encourage you to check it out.
It sets forth an approach to life that first occurred to me circa 2010. At that time, I was living in Barclay, and was surrounded by people whose lives were full of strife and turmoil, for reason that they
Never took responsibility for the results of their own actions, and
Never engaged in self-examination, but rather
Preoccupied themselves with things they thought other folks did wrong,
And resentments about the past and anxieties about the future.
On the one hand, being a Twelve Steps person myself, being an alcoholic in recovery, there were two simple recovery principles that seemed to me to be key to the fact that I had relative peace in my own life, as contrasted with all my neighbors.
First, there is the slogan, “Keep the focus on you.” All you can control in life, is yourself.
Second, there is the slogan, “One day at a time.” Don’t worry about the past or future.
There’s obviously a lot more to this. We’ll be back after the break.
[Commercial break]
I’ve already told about “on the one hand.” On the other hand, I came to the conclusion that these teachings were, in fact, what Jesus was all about. Everything he taught, it seemed to me, pertained to attaining and maintaining a state I call “Peace of Mind,” the state the recovery movement calls “serenity,” a state I came to believe Jesus referred to as “the Kingdom.”
In this state, one feels at peace with oneself, and also with all things in the world; all things that have happened, all things that can happen. It’s wonderful. If there were one gift I could give to every human being, this would be it.
I wrote the book to set forth this system, and to demonstrate that this is, in fact, what Jesus taught.
A few examples illustrate what Jesus taught.
I’m going to paraphrase his speech about the lilies of the field, since my online Bible isn’t available just now. He concluded, saying, “Why do you worry about tomorrow, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ ‘What will we drink?’ ‘What will we wear?’ Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will have enough worries of its own. Let today’s own trouble be enough for today.” This is as much as saying, “Take life one day at a time.”
Two of the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer relate. Now, the Lord’s Prayer, every Christian should recite it at least once every day. One petition says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This refers to the need to keep one’s attention on the here and now, on today, not yesterday or tomorrow.
The next petition says, “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” The first part is consistent with the need to “keep the focus on you.” The second part, forgiveness, entails letting go of the past, letting go of grudges and resentments, so that, again, one can focus on the present, pay attention to right now.
So it goes, on and on. In the book, I attempt to examine every one of Jesus’ sayings about the Kingdom.
I encourage you to read the book, and I hope you find it helpful.
Today’s music is “It don’t come easy,” by Ringo Starr. I chose this today because, back in 2010, when I first conceived The Way of Peace, this was just about my favorite song. The instrumental intro and out-tro impressed me as mystical and mysterious. The lyrics spoke to me of the work I perceived is inherent in spiritual growth, in seeking what I believed and believe is the noblest goal anyone can aspire to — namely, just to be a decent person.
In the past few years, things have appeared different to me. My life has, in fact, been easy — mainly because, using The Way of Peace, I have come that far in making life easy for myself. But in the past few weeks, I’ve become significantly re-acquainted with the things people do to make life difficult for themselves. At first, indeed, it don’t come easy. But the more one establishes peace with oneself and peace with the world, the easier it becomes.
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