Naivete and claivoyance
Music: Barbara Streisand, “On a clear day (you can see forever)” https://thehomelessblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2048/04/11-on-a-clear-day-you-can-see-forever.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. These days, I’m thinking again about making this show a place where everyone will feel included.
I’ve been knowing Tom for years. He’s short, maybe 5’5”; black as coal; stutters; has some cognitive issue; but he’s always impressed me as a good guy.
We stayed at the same shelter for a long time. Then COVID came, and that shelter shut down, and people went their different ways. He finally caught up to me at Dunkin’ Donuts, back in April. I had a roof over my head, a warm place to sleep, a place to keep my stuff. He was cold and wet and sleeping in doorways.
As time went on, I gave him $20 so he could sleep inside a few nights; I gave him money for other things. He got into coming into Dunkin’ daily, and I’d buy him food. It got to the point where I realized that I really can’t afford to do this, and I stopped. I mean, seriously, I can’t afford it.
On February 14th, he came into Dunkin’ at 15:02. I was sitting on the ledge inside, working on my laptop. He asked if he could borrow my phone charger. I said it was back at the dorm. He said, “You mean, if your phone dies, you gotta go all the way back to the dorm to charge it?” I said yes. He said, “That’s a damn lie. … If you’ll lie, you’ll steal.” And walked out. Note that he was already pretty angry when he first came in.
Now, this episode of this podcast is all about presump-tions. So, without necessarily presuming anything, we can speculate about what his situation was at that time, and what were his presumptions about me.
Apparently, his phone had died, and he had no charger. I didn’t even know he had a phone. He came into Dunkin’ hoping to find a charger, and charge it there. He assumed I had a charger with me — and that it was only out of spite that I refused to let him use it.
The fact is that, back in the day, I would have had a charger. Back in the day, I had to carry all my worldly possessions with me, everywhere I went. So, I had my phone and my charger with me at all times. Now I’m in a different situation. I have a place where I can keep my stuff. So, in fact, I almost never have my phone or charger with me. Unless I know I’m going to have to make a phone call during the day, my phone and my charger both stay at my bunk. If my phone’s battery gets low, I can plug it in right then and there.
So, when he made those accusations about me, based on his presumptions, I was surprised that I did not become defensive. But I knew perfectly well what the facts were, and the facts were not going to change. So I was complacent, no matter what he said.
Time to take a break.
[Commercial break]
At this moment, I’m not sure I can do justice to this topic.
Tom’s presumptions interfered with his perception of the facts, with his ability to see the truth. And I suspect that that applies equally well to all of us.
And that that’s what makes normal people different from clairvoyants.
They are either built from birth, or have acquired by self-discipline, the ability to live without presumptions; to be completely naïve; to just accept the things they see, exactly as they are.
To accept What Is, at face value, as it happens.
Without imposing judgements on it. Without denying or questioning. Accepting their perceptions just as they are.
This, then, applies not only to their perceptions of the visible world, but also to the perceptions they receive from the invisible world. Those are able to come into their awareness without interference from prejudices or presumptions.
I’m recalling a parallel, more recent exchange I had with a man on FaceBook. He had these accusations against Barack Obama, that Obama had stirred up racial strife in this country, that Obama had accused the police of targeting black men for murder, that Obama had preached to black people that they should be dependent.
I challenged him to come up with any evidence he could to back up those claims. He found none; he produced none; for reason that no such evidence exists. As to black dependency, I produced, and showed him, evidence of my own, that Barack Obama preached the exact opposite. The man’s answer was to re-assert his baseless claims, and as to what I had substantiated, say I had not substantiated anything.
I know no way to get through to such a person. His presumptions completely preclude his ability to see the truth, to see What Is. But my call of God is not to persuade him, or even understand him, but rather merely love him.
Today’s music is a favorite of mine, “On a clear day, you can see forever,” by Barbara Streisand. I have to believe it’s an accurate description of how the world appears to a clairvoyant person; I have to believe the author had conversations with clairvoyant people, to find out what it’s like. Note the qualification: “On a clear day, you can see forever.” Not all days are as “clear” as others, to these people; there are cloudy days, and foggy days, and days when your visibility is limited; and there’s nothing you can do about it. But the fog of one’s presumptions and assumptions and the fictions we tell ourselves — that fog, we can do away with.
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