WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

Saturday, February 14, 2015

WHAT AM I DOING HERE?

WHAT AM I

DOING HERE?

(Includes song:

My Life Is My Own)

(17 Pages)

By

Francis William Bessler

Laramie, Wyoming

2/14/2015

My Past, Present, & Future

       What am I doing here?  Good question, I think.  What do you think?  How would you answer the question?  Importantly for me, however, how would "I" answer the question?  I will be asking you that question later; but for now, me first.  OK?

       To put it as simply as I can by referencing myself as an entity, I am here to continue being Francis William Bessler.  That is it in a nutshell, so to speak.  Outside of all the normal scientific and spiritual inquisitions on the topic, the "practical" answer is that I am simply here to continue being the one I am.  In my case, that is simply to continue being Francis William Bessler - just as you might be continuing some attitude person of your own.  That is the simple "practical" answer to the question: What am I doing here?

       Never mind how I got here as a soul incarnated.  Forget speculation about that and just examine the present - and then take from the present and define the past and predict the future.  How simple can it be?

       Indeed, I think we humans tend to overlook the obvious by assuming that previous thinkers have been right in posturing that we all "come from" God and should all "go back" to God when a life's journey is done.  I admit that it does have some impact to think like that because it seems to offer a reason why we are all living.  We all want to know the answer to that.  Right?  Why am I living?

       At least some "ancients" would explain it: I am living to satisfy some God Who or Which made me.  Those particular ancients then have gone forward with that answer as a way to control how I live; and, of course, various of  those ancients have declared just how I should live in order to please some Personal Divine Source.  God made me - and God has a right to demand that I live in such and such a way.  Right?

       Without a doubt, I - Francis William Bessler - was once an eager student of "those ancients."  Early in life, they made sense to me, mostly because in providing a purpose for my life, I did not take any time at all to think for myself.  Hey, "those ancients" had already provided an explanation as to why everything is - from the alleged Creation of the Universe to right down to my individual creation.  I did not need to ask any questions about it because "they" had already provided the answers I might want to find.

       Eventually, however, I began to think for myself.  "Those ancients" no longer satisfied me.  I looked at my body and "knew" it could not be as they claimed.  I was "told" my body came from God; but the evidence I see - if I am willing to look at it - tells another story.  Doesn't it?  Never mind what I was "told."  It is obvious that what I was "told" is flat out false - and everyone knows it is.  My body could not have been "created by God" because it became obvious to me that my body is a product of normal human generation.  My father and my mother "created" my body - not God - as personal agent of "my" creation.

Whoever I Was, I Still Am!

       Who - or what - am I, though?  Am I only a body?  Am I completely explained as being a combo of egg from my mother and sperm from my father?  I know there are many who think that is the way it is - that I am only a conglomerate of flesh and blood and that when I die,  I will dissolve into the sand of the Earth and be no more.  There have been - and are - many other kinds of "ancients" who have believed that too.

       But not me!  As a sensible person who wants sensible answers, I cannot conclude that I am only a body.  I have a sense that I must have lived before because I seem to have an attitude that cannot be explained by virtue of only a body.  From where did my "attitude" derive if I am "only a body"?  Bodies do not have "attitudes."  Souls have attitudes; or so it seems to me.

       If I came into this life, then, as an "attitude," I must have existed before my body; and given that I was an "attitude" before I entered into the body provided by Leo and Clara Bessler, it only makes sense that after this body provided by Leo and Clara Bessler ceases, Francis William Bessler will still exist to go into another life.  Who was I in a past life, then?  My current "attitude" will tell that story.  Regardless of name, it is likely that whoever I was, I still am.

More Than What I Seem To Be

       When I was a kid, I was privileged to have several names.  It is, perhaps, that "accident" about me that has led me to suspect that I am far more than just what I seem to be.  My family called me Sonny - from the time I remember anything at all to my graduation from high school in Powell, Wyoming in 1960.  I was called Sonny due to an older brother thinking that Dad called me Sonny when Dad was really only singing a song with me on his lap.  The song was called Sonny Boy, I think; but brother Denny called me Sonny because he thought Dad was calling me Sonny Boy - though Dad was only singing a song about a Sonny Boy while addressing me in his song. 

       Still I was called Sonny by my family - though others knew me as the Francis I am or the Frank that is a nickname of Francis.  But who was Sonny?  In truth, Sonny was - and is - perhaps, the real me.  It was due to my having several names, though, that may have led me to believe that beyond a Francis, a Sonny had already lived; and as it probably has been for me, it probably is for everyone.

       The key for "knowing" you have lived before is in an "attitude."   I think that is so.  When I died as the one I was previously, my brain died with that me.  The brain contains memory.  The soul does not.  There are no "brain cells" in a soul for which an immaterial soul can retain a memory - or probably are not any memory cells in a soul, such as it is; but when the brain (and body) die, memory also dies because the two - brain and memory - are effectively speaking, one.

       But outside of "memory," there seems to be an "attitude" about each of us.  It is IN that "attitude," I think, that our souls live, mature, and pass on from one life to another. 

       From where did Sonny come?  Why was Sonny different than all his four brothers and three sisters - and even different than his Mom & Dad?  Why did Sonny think that playing with the sand is somehow the same as playing with the Moon and the Sun and our precious Earth - and even with the entire Universe - and especially with the Infinite Presence within it all - God?  Why?  Because Sonny was only living the same attitude of seeing all as one with which he must have lived before.  How else explain his comfort with life as it is amidst a family and church (Catholic) that believed otherwise?  That is not to say, however, that all my different but wonderful siblings did not align in soul with Mom & Dad in their own way.  Just because we were - and are - a little different does not mean we could not all "choose" the same parents.

The Soul

       Attitude says it all, I think, in terms of how each of us conducts life.  Now how attitude is retained by a soul is a really good question.  It may be almost impossible to know because we know so little about the soul - assuming that it does exist at all.

       Assuming that a soul does exist, however, in my opinion, it probably exists as an immaterial (or maybe, ethereal) reality or entity that somehow occupies a material vessel for the life of that material vessel - or body.  In that the soul is probably immaterial, it cannot be subject to material limitations - or perhaps, consequences.  A soul by itself probably cannot be subject to being punished by some external source, for instance.  Thus, when a soul separates from a body that it might have been occupying, that soul is "free" of all physical or material restraints to which it may have been subject during the life of its host - a body.

       I find that prospect absolutely wonderful.  It just makes sense to me.  With the death of my host, my temporary body, all previous illness or physical handicap would disappear.  No body - no illness.  Thus, if I had been suffering from a Parkinson's Disease, for example, my body's death would free me from continued suffering - and free me for taking on a whole new body - hopefully healthy.

       But who knows how a soul "chooses" a new body?  I suspect that a soul cannot choose a body as such because it would have no physical or material structure to do so.  Being immaterial, it would have no eyes to see where it is going - or no senses in general to locate itself in a material way; however, it may be that a soul would "choose" a body based on some affiliation or alignment with another soul.  In other words, souls might choose to align with other souls as companions - irrespective to actual body selection.

       If so, that would explain why I - as a soul - "chose" my Dad & Mom for corporeal entry.  I did not choose the embryo I entered generated by my Dad & Mom.  I simply chose to align with the souls of Dad & Mom, Leo & Clara Bessler, who happen to be generating my body - or body to be.

       Crazy?  Maybe, but probably no more so than any other explanation of body entry we have heard.

The Origin Of My Soul

       For what it's worth, as to the origin of my soul itself, I did some real "soul searching" in life in my thirties.  I even changed my name, in a way, to help me along.  My middle name is "William."  Now I had never called myself "William" earlier in life.  I just went by my first name and the nick name of "Sonny" that was "given" to me by my brother, Denny, who is fifteen months older than me.

       But in 1978, at the age of 36 - after failing for years to find any worthwhile answers to the soul - I decided that maybe if I change my focus from my first name to my middle name, maybe that would help me in my search for an explanation for the soul.  So, after 1978, I began to introduce myself to new people as "Will" instead of Francis or Frank.  My purpose in that was to accent the "middle of me" - which I saw as representing the "real soul" of me.

       Maybe it had something to do with it, and maybe it didn't; but in 1980, I was walking in a park in Denver, Colorado, pondering the soul and the sound of a quack, quack from a nearby pond caught my attention.  There in front of me was a mama duck and several ducklings.  I somehow became really aware of how alike they all were - and the answer as to the "probable" origin of my soul came to me.  Of course,  my explanation may appeal to only me, but Nature seems to tell us that each of us is like a parent.  If you want to know your origin, then, just trace yourself to a parent.  It is simple as that.

       Why should souls be different?  If a soul exists, it must have an origin.  Right?  Well, the natural answer as to the origin of a soul, then, must be another soul - or souls.  A soul, then, must come from another soul in some way just like all children in Nature come from parents that are like them.  Well, it makes sense to me.  After our origin in a natural way, then, like any other natural thing, each of us is our own soul; and we can only inherit our self as we might go through several - or multiple lives.

       Now, given that each of us is a soul that might reincarnate time and time again, how account for the apparent mismatch between numbers of bodies and souls that enter them?  If one soul reincarnates again and again - and all souls do the same - why would the world's population be increasing?  Why wouldn't the population - or repopulation - of the world in terms of humans stay the same?  One body - one soul; or one soul - one body.  It would seem that if I am right that souls occupy bodies, then it is only reasonable to assume that the number of souls and bodies would stay the same.  Right?

       Well, consider that souls multiply too - which would have to happen for my soul to be "born" in a first occurrence.  Who knows?  If my parent soul somehow gave birth to another soul, there could be "others of me" out there.  Right?  And if your parent soul were to "multiply" according to the natural way, there could be "others of you" out there too.  That could mean that as bodies multiply, so also could souls; and that could account for the growing population of humans being matched with a growing number of souls.  Suppose?

       Maybe; maybe not!  But it is certainly an interesting thought.  Right?  Might even account for lots of "soul mates" out and about too.  I could be looking at "another me" if my parent soul gave birth to a lot of us.  Why do I get along so much better with some than others?  Who knows, but at least part of the answer just might be that it's easier to get along with "your self" than with others; and if there are a lot of "other me souls" out there, hey, I could be part of a grand family of souls.

       That even allows for one's "soulful providence."  No one is really alone as a soul.  Our various "providences," then could account for feelings that we sometimes get that we have an angel hovering about us.  Some might call that a "visitation from God" while it might be only a "visitation from a member of our soulful providence."  I find that prospect rather interesting.  How about you?

       Anyway, for what it's worth, in 1989, I decided to write a book on the subject of the soul.  I called it SOULS - ILLUSIONS OR REALITIES?  I won't go into that here, but you can find that work in the OUT IN THE OPEN writings feature of my website - www.una-bella-vita.com.  I changed the name to UNMASKING THE SOUL and you can find it in Volume 2 of 8 in that feature of my website.

Where Did Sonny Go?

       Where did Sonny go?  No one has called me Sonny beyond my early days.  Did Sonny just disappear - or maybe go into hiding?  In a way, personally, I have done both.  I have "disappeared" from normal human activity - and I have done so by "hiding" in "holiness."

       In truth, I think, we all seek to "hide" behind some mantle of perceived security.  Many, I think, "hide" behind some veil or excuse of authority to find security.  Indeed, security is what it is all about for all of us.  Right?  We all do what we do because we think that what we do will "protect" us.  Authority - or the claim of it - lends to many people choosing to get behind some authority or other.  Ah, authority - or the claim of it - will "protect" them; and watch out all you who challenge "my authority."  Get out of line - and be smashed.

       Personally, I think we all enter into bodies - as souls - somewhat "secure."  Otherwise, we would not come at all.  Would we?  Who in his "right mind" would enter into a world in which there is suspected to be danger ahead?  I think no one. 

       If we were secure when we entered the world of the flesh, however, many of us lose it once we have entered into the world of materiality and flesh.  Why?  I think it is because the world is "brain driven" and not "soul oriented."  Once we start "depositing" items of interest into our brains - to become part of a "collective memory" - we depend upon that part of us to find what we already had as souls - security.  Our brains become our masters; and our souls go into recess.  I do believe that is what happens, but keep in mind, I am only speculating.  I do not "know" what I am claiming to be fact; but it just "seems" so to me.

       My own "security" seems to be founded in myself, though.  Others have security of soul too, but their security relies on someone - or something - else.  In a way, souls "think" too - in all likelihood.  Some souls "think" that security can only be attained by either commanding another - or being commanded by another.  So when some souls - who think authority in another is the basis of security - enter into the world, they demand that their brains start there.  The brain is empty upon starting in this world, but very soon it begins to be filled - with ideas and images - and when a soul that "thinks" authority is the basis of security begins, it begins there and goes forward.

       Such souls that need authority to have security become those who hear and believe if what they hear lends to authority.  Other souls, such as Sonny, hear the same thing as the authority souls do, but do not believe.  They do not believe because they "know" otherwise.  That is, they "know" their own security is not vested in any other; and thus, they resist hearing about tales of authority in the first place.

       Those who are vested in authority, however, love tales of authority - and then try to "fit in" as best they can.  I think that is what happens.  We all come into this world with empty brains, so to speak, but as we fill our brains with perceived "useful" imagery, we let our brains direct our lives.  Thus those of us who "like" the idea of authority absolutely "love" tales that begin: Thus saith the Lord.  Those of us who love authority as the basis of security love the idea of lords probably more than we love any other single idea.  Ideas and tales of "The Lord" just lend themselves to authority and the need thereof.  Don't they?

       For what it's worth, my next essay will be concentrating on the use of "The Lord" as an excuse for authority.  Keep in mind, all I think is only personal speculation; but I am firm believer that all thought is basically "personal speculation" - even though it is often proclaimed and presented as directive from proper authority - just like you would expect from a person who loves the idea of authority in the first place.  Standby for that essay if you wish.  I intend to call it TALKING WITH GOD

Hiding In Holiness

       But let me get back to an idea I mentioned above.  I said that Sonny

has "disappeared" from normal human activity by "hiding" in "holiness" - or a sense of holiness.  Let me explain myself on that.  How can anyone "hide" behind - or in - "holiness"?  It is a crazy idea.  Right?  Well, it would be a crazy idea for those who think security is vested in another, but it is not so crazy if one believes that his or her security is based in him or herself.

       When I claim that my security is based in myself, however, that is not because of myself alone.  It is because "myself" is found within a complete Infinite and Blessed Existence.  I am holy - not because I am something special - but because I am part of Holy Whole, so to speak.  We are all "holy" because we are part of a general holiness.  We just do not know it.  Those who do know it, however, could be said to be "hiding in holiness."  One could say, though, that "authority" - or the need for it - resides only where it is perceived that holiness is lacking.  If people knew they are holy, they would not need some authority to lead them to it.  Would they?

       Take the word "vested."  It really tells all.  Doesn't it?  When I say that I am "vested," it implies that something else is "covering" me.  Right?  I put on a "vest" to express some sentiment of authority - or security.  Witness the normal declaration by one who is claiming authority to do something: By the authority vested in me, I do such and such.  Right?  Those who seek and need authority to find security see themselves as "vested" in authority; but those of us who have no need for authority are satisfied with what we are - needing no "vestment" to separate us from others. 

The Majesty of a Soul!

       I admit that I do not know anything in detail about a soul, but I do believe that all life is worthy because an Infinite Divinity must inspire everything - even if some of which is part of everything denies its own Divinity.

       In truth, humanity has been denying its own Divinity since humans progressed from a stooping posture to an upright posture.  Maybe it was in that alteration of our posture - and being able to stand up and look about - that became our greatest handicap.  I think that if I could witness human generation becoming human generation from a previous

near human species, I would see how it could have all happened.

       There would have been some souls who have no need for authority entering this species that was finally standing upright - and taking delight in the amazing world before them.  In having greater eyesight due to being able to see more from a standing position, souls like Sonny would have found this fabulous Earth a literal Paradise.

       Then there were probably other souls who had attained an attitude of authority that came into life in a body with only one intent - TAKE CHARGE!  Others of the submissive variety have agreed to follow; and so, humanity has probably experienced all sort of variety because of the variety of souls that have entered into it.

       I am one kind of soul, however; and you might be another.  The majesty of both our souls is just in the allowance that we can choose to be whatever we want.  How can we choose?  By the way we act within our bodies; but however we act, that action will be reflected in an "attitude."

       In the end, perhaps, it all turns into a "matter of will" in terms of determining for myself what "will be" my destiny.  Personally, I do not understand those who insist on authority because I see authority as a terrible burden.  Some, of course, may call me a coward for not wanting to burden myself - even for the sake of others.  They would say that I should "take charge" and kill any bastard that might infringe on the safety of me or one I might love.

       To resort to taking charge and dealing with bad people, however, would make me one of them.  I could not kill any "bastard" or punish any "bastard" and still not be punished myself for having done it.  Why would I want to become my enemy to destroy him?

       And think about the one I would kill - or punish.  How about that?  That one is also a soul that must continue after this life is over.  Alright, let me kill that one - or choose to terrorize him or her with some terrible pain.  Just how is that likely to change his or her attitude and make him or her the next time a "better person" for having a "better attitude"?

       If I am right about souls simply continuing to be themselves and probably returning for another round after a current life is done, how smart is it of me to kill another thinking that with his death he is done?  All I am doing by my savagery for his savagery is to insure that his (or her) savagery will continue in a next life.  Just how smart is that?

       But if I approach one who is a savage with kindness, at least I will not become a savage if he kills me; and if I capture him and imprison him instead of killing him, perhaps by treating that "savage" with a little dignity, he or she might become less savage.  Don't you think?

       Consider, too, the absolute stupidity of killing or maiming or punishing a "brother soul" simply because he or she is a member of an opposing culture.  If I attempt to destroy a city with perceived enemies in it, I could very well be destroying lives of fellow souls who are actually of my same soulful brotherhood.  Now, how stupid is that?  And yet I think we humans do it all the time - simply because we fail to realize that one soul is not like another - in terms of attitude.  If we "kill the bastards" for some outlandish thing of which we consider them guilty, we could well be killing a lot of "friends" close at hand who actually agree with us.  Again, how stupid!

       Those who are not soul oriented ignore that prospect because they have not even taken the time to dwell on a soul in the first place.  They act like we always have bodies and that souls by themselves are somehow like "little bodies" that can be punished in some non body afterlife.  Witness the saying: You will burn in Hell - as if an immaterial soul can become material again - in Hell - just so it can be "burned."  How stupid is that?  And yet most probably believe it.  Again, how crazy is that?  God will extend the punishment that we impose on some poor deserving of Hell soul when we are finished with him.  That is how we think; and it all begins - and ends - with attitude.

       But again, that attitude is mine to make - and keep.  I can be whatever soul I want to be - or think I should be; and no matter how I choose to be as a soul, be assured - if I am right - I will have to inherit myself - and only myself.  Knowing this, if I am unhappy, wouldn't it be better to change my attitude in order to inherit a different me?   Personally, however, I doubt any of us do much changing in life; but it's good to know that we can.  Right?

What Do You Think?

       Alright, I stood my ground.  I told you what I think I am doing here - simply continuing to be me; but about you?  What do you think?  About yourself mostly?  What do you think?  Why are you here in this mortal body - or your mortal body?

       Careful, Mr. Bessler!  That is tricky territory.  You have already told a reader what you think and did not ask him what he - or she - thought first.  In other words, you prepared a reader to go along with you by the way you approached your subject.

       And that is exactly the problem too.  I think a lot of would be leaders approach others to lead them, not to challenge them.  Thus they begin with such as: Why do people exist?  Then they do not wait for an answer and follow up with an I'll tell you why. In other words, our questions are not always questions seeking sincere answers.  They are answers being posed as questions.

       But notice, I did not fall into that trap completely when I began this essay.  I did not ask: Why do people exist?  I asked: What am I doing here?  Of course, I was suggesting that because we are all the same that what I am doing here is also what you are doing here as a soul - continuing to be you as I am continuing to be me; but at least I did leave some wiggle room by emphasizing "I" and not "You" in my question.

What Are You Doing Here?

       Having said that, though, it is somewhat of a legitimate question: What are you doing here?  I'm leading again, of course, but let me ask you if you think it is reasonable to believe that within an Infinite, Endless, Existence that there can be a "Personal God" hanging out and about creating things in some poof fashion and expecting all that "He" creates to have to march to some standard tune? 

       Beyond that, how do you perceive your soul?  Or do you believe you even have one?  Is it reasonable to believe that each of us is an individual entity before we enter into this world - and that we take on a body to express ourselves as souls?  Is that reasonable?  Or is that foolish thought?  What do you think?

       Is it reasonable to believe that whatever it was that motivated us as souls to enter into bodies this time will be the same thing that will motivate us to enter again a next time?  Is then our existence in this world the best "proof" that we will probably come again?  Why did we come as souls to the Earth in the first place - if we had other options?  And is it reasonable to expect that we will have some other options next time if we did not this go around?

      What do you think of the alternative - or at least one alternative?  God makes us as souls and then somehow "fits" us into some sleeve of existence called a body - and then expects each of us to march to some standard?  And if we do march to that standard, whatever it is, is it reasonable to believe we will go to Heaven where there is a Disneyland all set up for us?

       Why is it that this world is not a Disneyland already?  Why is it that there should be another land afar off that waits for some who are worthy and another land afar off that waits for the unworthy?  Why is any of this - do this and go there - reasonable?  And after we die, how will we go here or there if we have no bodies with which to do it?  Will God make us another body just so we can go here or there?  And if we do have future contrived bodies, how will they get to the land afar off called Heaven?  Will they have wings?  Or will those of us who are designated for Heaven be loaded aboard some angel flight to that wonderful place?

       What do we have to do to get to this Heaven?  It is supposed that Heaven is a "land of peace" where everyone gets along and no one is in conflict with any other in this grand place.  If so, can one who kills another in the name of a peaceful Heaven get there?  How likely is that?  I would think that a land of peace and harmony should require peace and harmony to get there - not some angry denunciation on the part of some potential residents of other potential residents?

       And how about cats and dogs and deer and antelope - and all animals and birds and fishes?  Are they potential residents of this place called Heaven too?  If not, why not?  Why is this wonderful place called Heaven only fit for humans - and maybe angels?  Why can't dogs and cats and the like go there too?  And if dogs and cats have to meet some strict criteria to go there, what might be that criteria?  Should Heaven be restricted only to dogs that do not growl at other dogs - or perhaps dogs that do growl at other dogs?  What does a dog have to do to get to Heaven?  What does a cat have to do to get to Heaven?

       And, oh, here is another question.  Is Heaven structured?  Saints are considered those who have made it to Heaven; but are there levels of saints?  Is one saint closer to God than another and thereby more deserving than lesser saints?  Is Mohammed the closest to God - or the farthest away?  Is Jesus standing by close to the throne of God - or is he standing close to St. Peter who is guarding the gates of Heaven to make sure only the worthy get in?

       When the two of us pass on, Pope Francis and this Francis William, will Pope Francis be positioned closest to God - or perhaps will Francis William be chosen to be closest to God?  Or maybe Francis William will be excluded entirely due to his obstinate questioning and refusal to go along with the regular Heavenly order of things?  Would God do that?  Could God do that?  Would or Could God dismiss Francis William from ever getting to Heaven based on his not passing a "Heaven Test" when he had the chance?

       A really super important question: Where is Heaven?  Is it a land just beyond Jupiter - or does it reside beyond this galaxy?  How big is it?  Does it occupy a thousand square miles - or a million or a billion or a trillion?  Why is it better than Earth?  Does it have better creeks - whatever that might be - or no creeks at all?  If it has creeks, do fish swim in them - and do Heavenly folks catch fish for dinner?  What do they eat in Heaven?  Surely if no one dies in Heaven, nothing can be killed to make up a meal.  Right?  So what do they eat in Heaven?  Or do they eat at all?  Who knows?  Maybe they have no need of eating and simply play ball and worship God in the evening.

       Ah, but is there an evening in Heaven?  Maybe the Heaven Sun just stays up all the time and never goes down.  If so, there would be no night in Heaven - only day.  Now what would one do with an eternal day?  And why would one want only day and no night?  Indeed, if one puts his - or her - mind to it, one can ask all sort of questions about Heaven.  If we have never been there - none of us - how can any of us know what it is?  Tell me that!

Why Isn't Heaven Here?

       Let me continue by asking another important question - why isn't Heaven here?  Near as I can tell, it is - or should be.  I think the biggest reason we do not see Heaven here is because we have been led to believe that it can't be here.  I guess it is perceived by all those who believe Heaven cannot be "at hand" that it is impossible to conduct ourselves on this Earth in a "Heavenly Manner."

       And so we have looked away because looking here is futile.  No - Heaven must be some other place.  It cannot be here; and I ask: Why Not?

       At least what I think of as Heaven is only that those who live there are both kind to everyone and are aware of the bounty that is there.  Now that does not sound very complicated to me.  Maybe your idea of Heaven is different than that, but that is my idea of Heaven - peace among everyone and kindness to all - while being aware of the wonder of life as it surrounds us.

       For me, that is far easier than the alternative: being unaware of the wonder about me and treating others like they do not deserve to be here.  That alternative is just too hard for me to even consider it.  Call me one without courage, but there is NO WAY I want to go that route.  Besides taking up too much of my energy, it leaves me without any peace at all.

       But what about all the evil ones who deserve to be treated like they should be in Hell?  My answer: WHY?  Why should I think it is somehow an advantage for me to treat one who has done ill as deserving of Hell?  That makes no sense to me at all.  No!  Let me forgive such an evil one and by so doing, release me to continue as the Heavenly Fellow I should be.

       Anyway, with death comes amnesty.  Souls probably cannot be punished because punishment is a "body thing."  Without my having a body - after I die - you probably cannot punish me.  So why waste your time in life trying to punish me when all your punishment will end with my passing?  Seems like a waste of your time and mine.  So, why do it?

       This "amnesty of soul" of which I speak is only from me to you, however, or from you to me.  I am free of being subject to you and anyone else, including an external God, upon death of body, but I am not free of myself.  I am still bound to an attitude; and that attitude will likely continue.  How else explain how you and I are different in the first place?

       At least, that is how I see it - and believe it to be.  Let me conclude now with a song about how MY LIFE IS MY OWN.  As the refrain does say, however, as it is for me, my friend, it's also true for thee.

       Thanks for listening!

              Francis William Bessler (Sonny, Will)

My Life Is My Own

By

Francis William Bessler

(Sonny)

2/14/2015

REFRAIN:

My life is my own.

It belongs to no one else.

My life is my own -

as I'm so proud to tell.

My life is my own.

That's the way it should be;

and as it is for me, my friend,

it's also true for thee.

Life is quite a miracle.

We need nothing more.

At least, that's how I see it -

and try to live it, for sure.

Why should I waste my time

looking away from life

when it is there I should hope

to find that which is Divine?

Refrain.

Let me look at you, girl,

and be amazed at what I see

and know that what I see

is filled with Divinity.

The wonder of your eyes

and the grace of your shape

should leave me feeling grateful

that I'm one to share your state.

Refrain.

Let me look at you, boy,

and know that I'm like you.

In you I find myself

and in you I find my truth.

It is not very complicated

as I see the two of us now.

To love that we too are one

should be my only vow.

Refrain.

Someday, for sure, I will die

and leave all memory behind,

but the attitude I take with me

will be mine next time.

Indeed, my life is my own,

but let me give it away as well.

Be mindful we are precious

and we will never live in Hell.

Refrain.

Let me look at my fellow birds

and know we share Paradise.

Let me swim among the fish

and be aware we both are fine.

Let me wander among the stars,

knowing it's all the same on Earth;

and when I die, I will find

a simply fantastic rebirth.

Refrain (twice).

Ending:

Indeed, as it is for me, my friend,

it's also true for thee.