ALMOST DONE!

Monday, July 6, 2015

ALMOST DONE!

ALMOST DONE!

By

Francis William Bessler

Laramie, Wyoming

7/6/2015

        Like my songs says below, I have been almost done since I was born.  At least that is what I believe.  Why?  Because I have found that nothing much changes in life - or nothing much has changed in my life.  That leads me to believe that such is really the way it is.  As I was yesterday, I still am today; and that translates into being "almost done" from the beginning to the end - and beyond that, into another beginning all the way to and through another end.

       Of course, I could be wrong, but if Life itself is Evidence, well it must be so.  Life itself shows me that nothing much changes in one life.  We all stay the same - for the most part.  Oh, we change in terms of gaining gray hairs where we had none before - and losing some physical tempo that we had before we aged; but other than that, I am the same today as I was when I was seven.

       When I was seven, I had a yearn to take off my clothes and go skipping down a lane or in a field or go skinny dipping in a creek or in a lake; and today at 73, I am still of the same mind.  So, what has changed?  I am still the same "old" person today as I was when I was "young"; and as it has been for me, I think it is that way with everyone - well, almost everyone.

       Really, when I turn 74 in December, is it likely that I will somehow be different than I am today at 73?  Will one year make any difference - anymore than 73 years has made much difference? 

       So, why am I living if nothing changes in a given lifetime?  I think we all have to answer that one for ourselves.  I do believe we all live for different reasons - or we all incarnate for different reasons.  I can tell you why I am living in this wonderful, fantastic, currently fading home I call my body, but I can't answer that question for anyone but me.

       Why am I living?  I can tell you that because it is my life.  I am living because I want to know the miracle of life that is about me and in which I am so privileged to be.  I want to know "what" life is in order to know "who" I am.  I am dedicated to know the wonder of life by living it.  That is why I live; but each of us must answer for ourselves. 

       And that is one of the wonders of life too - to be able to experience it as I wish to experience it - while allowing others only somewhat of a "commentary" role and not a "directing" role.  I am - as I say in a audio cassette program I produced with a few friends in the '80s - MASTER OF MY OWN FATE.  Indeed, I am in charge - just as others are also in charge of their own fates - if they only realized their own capacity.

       Life has taught me, however, that others - many others - want to be "masters of my fate"; and thus, many believe in stories of mastery about how someone else can better choose another's fate - or another's journey - or another's meaning in life.  There so many in the world who have no feel for letting others choose for themselves; and so they go forward in life to direct others as if those others cannot direct themselves.

       Francis, they say, don't you know that you have worth only if you listen to me?  Don't you know that all are born without worth of themselves and have to rely on something outside of them to find worth?  Don't you know that you must rely on someone else - nominally, themselves - to lead you to your worth?  Listen to me, Francis, and I will lead you to the "promised land" where all who have listened to the likes of me before will end.

       But, you see, when you ponder the matter, why would anyone tell me such a thing unless they are unhappy with life itself?  Why would anyone dare to offer that life is unworthy - unless they first believe it themselves?  And there is the "great revelation" of another encouraging me to follow them in their ways - simply because they have no idea that life itself is really worthy of itself.  They ask you to follow them because they are blind as to the worth of life and believe they can convince you to do so because they expect you to be blind too.

       Well, such is the way it is.  People live blind in a world they choose to fashion as they want it to be - not the way it is.  No one would say - Come, follow me to another life - if they were happy with the life they are wanting to leave behind; but in not knowing of the wonderful life they have, they live and go blind as to the real worth of life.  They live in Paradise, but like Adam & Eve before them, they do not know it.  Instead, they do as Adam & Eve did - they hide themselves behind whatever clothes they can find - and by doing - leave Paradise behind.

       Be careful that no one leads you astray.  I think Jesus said that two thousand years ago.  It is still as true today as it was then.  In Verse 3 of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS, Jesus said: If those who lead you say to you" "See, the Kingdom is in heaven", then the birds will precede you.  If they say to you, "It is in the sea," then the fish will precede you.  But the Kingdom is within you and without you (or "outside" of you).  If you know yourselves, then you will be known and you will know that you are sons of the Living Father.  But if you do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty and you are poverty.

       In THE GOSPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE, Verse 1, Be careful that no one leads you astray by saying, 'Look here' or 'Look there.'  The child of humanity is within you.  Follow that.  Those who seek it will find it.  Go and preach the good news of the kingdom.  Do not lay down any rules other than what I have given you, and do not establish law, as the lawgiver did, or you will be bound by it."

       Life has taught me that those two injunctions of Jesus - even if they are not legitimate of Jesus, though I think they are - to be true.  Life has taught me - if I will only look at it - that it is truly miraculous and amazing.  Why should I live to look away from it?  It makes no sense now - as it made no sense when I was seven.

       Look for the "child of humanity" within me, Jesus said.  Well, I have done that all my life; and in looking there, I have found fulfillment.  I have not needed any additional law to guide me or direct me - and when I have been distracted with such, I have found only confusion.  It has been just as Jesus - or the Jesus of Mary - said it would be.  If I think that law - any law - will save me, then I am following another lead that will have me believe that life itself is somehow unworthy; and if I listen to that one, and follow that one, then I have listened to a fool and have been dedicated to a fool.

       No matter.  Today, I am ALMOST DONE - with this article and with this book and with this life - though I may live to be a hundred; but as my final article of this book will say, I have been and always will be, dedicated to LOVING EVERYTHING; and that is how I will end this book and this life - and it is how I will continue on with whatever life I will be born into next time.

       Indeed, it's all up to me.  I am the "master of my own fate" just as you are - or can be.  To be a "master," however, you must take charge of your own life - and not let another lead you where you do not want to go.

Almost Done!

A Song or Poem

By

Francis William Bessler

Laramie, Wyoming

5/25/2015

Almost done, yes,

I'm almost done.

I've been almost done

since I was one.

As it has been for me,

it's also true for you.

You've been almost done

since you were two.

We come into life

already on the run.

That's why we're almost done

from the age of one.

Now I'm not saying

I've nothing left to do.

I have a whole life ahead of me

before I'm through.

But that has always been the case,

no matter my age.

At the age of seven,

I may have already been a sage.

That's because I am only continuing

from a past end;

and as I ended before,

I was born again.

But that is true for everyone,

not just for me.

We are all rooted in our past

for a future to see.

We do not just begin

with a given birth.

We only continue from

our last phase on Earth;

and what I was before,

I will become again -

at least until

I choose a different blend.

I am never certain, though,

of what a future holds.

Civilization determines

how much I can be bold.

But it is also true

that civilization I can impact

by leading my life

according to a given tract.

You can look at me and

judge me to be a fool;

or you can consider yourself

a student in my school.

Or I can choose to follow you,

even if I disagree

and become in act,

a whole new pedigree.

It is unlikely, however,

that any will bend.

It's more likely this beginning

will be the next end.

That's because it's difficult

for each of us to change;

and as we were before,

we will likely become again.

Change is possible, though, I think,

as Jesus knew.

As long as we can live,

we can change a view.

We do not have to continue

as we were before.

We can change to

bargain at another store.

We do not have to keep

buying the same ole thing;

but what we buy is

what our lives will bring.

If we want kindness from others,

we must be kind

regardless of what others do

who may be blind.

To follow their lead

and become as them

if hatred is their way,

theirs will become our sin.

So, if I may,

let me encourage you

to live your life

according to a kindness view.

Though I'm almost done

with any given life,

I am never done

having to be kind.

For, my friend,

kindness is its own reward

just as anger leads to always

being on guard.

If I am always on guard,

I will never be free.

So, be free, my friend -

and be kind with me.

Yes, if I'm always on guard,

I will never be free.

So, be free, my friend,

and be kind with me.