11/8/2018: Almost Done: My Book of Song

Sing it Out!

Thursday, November 8, 2018


Thursday, November 8, 2018
11/8/2018: Almost Done: My Book of Song

11/8/2018

Hello, Everyone!

I do believe I am almost there. I think I have just completed my book of songs I'm calling SONGS BY A DIVINE NATURIST CHRISTIAN and by end of day will be passing it forward to my publisher, Create Space. For what it's worth, I will copy the front end below. Review it if you wish, but pay it no mind if there is no interest. OK? I am not saying I am done for sure, but Nov 8th is a significant date because it is a date I think I am done. When I get my next proof and review it in detail, I may find a few problems, but I do not expect any; and that is why I say I am "almost done."

As it happened, in my recent visit with my lovely daughter, Melissa, in Ga, I took the current proof along and made as many as 100 changes. I must say I really enjoyed that. Making changes is simply part of the process for me; but I do believe I am almost finished with "making changes." Moments ago, I finished my Intro and will be sharing that with you below. Again, read it if you wish.

The elections are over. As I suspected, being in a red state and being mostly an INDEPENDENT that leans in the Democrat column, I voted for a lot of "losers," but it's ok. I just feel privileged to be able to vote. It is far more a privilege for me than a duty. How about for you?

Hey, be in touch as you wish!

Bye for now!

Gently,

Francis William Bessler
(Frank, Will)
& wife, Nancy Shaw


Songs
By A
Divine Naturist (Christian)
(
204 Songs & Poems
Written by a
Christian Naturalist)

(Written From 1963-2018)


By
Francis William Bessler
Laramie, Wyoming


Dedicated to
ALL OF US
because
ALL OF US
are the same.
It is only
thinking we are different
that causes
most of our ills.


First Copyrighted as
JOYFUL HAPPY SOUNDS
By
Francis William Bessler
Laramie, Wyoming, U.S.A.
October, 2015
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 1726469727
ISBN 13: 9781726469722
LCCN Imprint Name: Laramie, Wyoming


INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this book of songs originally called JOYFUL HAPPY SOUNDS! I decided to call this volume by that name based on one of the songs included in it that I wrote in 1971 that I called Joyful Happy Sounds; however, this version is being changed to SONGS BY A DIVINE NATURIST (CHRISTIAN) to better define the nature of the songs included. I hope you enjoy at least some of them. Be my guest! OK?

I have tried to assemble most of my poems and songs written since the 1970s in this poetic collage. I will even feature a song or poem before that time as well, but most of them were written after the age of 30. I am now almost 77.  Many of them were featured in a four cassette album of commentary and music I produced in the 1980s called MASTER OF YOUR OWN FATE and in a previous single cassette of commentary and music called FEELING FREE. Many of those that are specified as written in the 1980s were written for those programs - produced in Atlanta, Georgia where I lived for over 20 years from 1981 to 2002.

Using a small recording studio in Atlanta, Georgia, owned by a husband & wife named Jodi & Debbie, in 1983, FEELING FREE was produced in a few months for $3,000. Jodi played the guitar as backup for my songs; and his lovely wife, Debbie, joined me in song. I must admit it was pretty bad - mostly because the lead male singer was myself. LOL! The female lead, Debbie, was pretty good, though. Still, for a first try, it was a good start. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Right?

Later in 1983, I decided I wanted to try again to produce a second program using Jodi & Debbie, but, as it happened, Jodi & Debbie were unavailable. So, I had to find another source. A recording artist named Gary James, also based in Atlanta and having a recording studio of his own, agreed to assist me. Gary introduced me to a wonderful Atlanta lady musician by the name of Jackie Audrey - and the three of us began what would turn out to be a very long process to produce what ended as a four audio cassette series of commentary and song I called MASTER OF YOUR OWN FATE. If I considered I needed another musician to play some given instrument, Gary located that one for me. In the end, six musicians collaborated with me to produce the series. For the lack of a better name, I called the group "The Natural Virtue Singers of Georgia" - though the group only existed as a group for the production of my program.

MASTER OF YOUR OWN FATE cost me a fortune and took over eight years of writing and producing and rewriting and reproducing and recording a song and enhancing it later to get it done – starting in 1983 and ending in 1992. I started it in 1983, expecting it would take only a year and expecting it to cost less than $10,000; but it took nearly a decade and cost me well over $140,000 in the end. Believe me, it took a lot of working overtime as a contract programmer to earn $140,000 over a period of nine years; but, Lucky Me, I was so very fortunate to have been able to do it. I have not been able to successfully share it, market wise, however, though I have tried a number of times.

It is perhaps worth noting, however, given that my original audio cassette format has become mostly obsolete, in March of 2014, I produced a DVD series of three 3 hour programs featuring the volumes of MASTER OF YOUR OWN FATE. I dubbed that earlier audio cassette series onto three DVD programs whereby the video aspect of the series is from a personal pictorial of photos I took from 2009 through 2013. Lots of family and friends are featured in that photo pictorial. I did that just so I could share the original audio cassette series with any who might find it interesting. In time, I hope someone else will want to dub my earlier audio cassette series over footage of their own and produce a much more professional series; but until such can be arranged, I decided I better produce something to feature MASTER OF YOUR OWN FATE, even if that something is not as professional as I would like.

I called my own DVD production by the name of one of the songs of the program - The Story of Love. Thus Volume 1 (of 3) of THE STORY OF LOVE features audio cassette programs 1 & 2 of MASTER OF YOUR OWN FATE. Volume 2 of THE STORY OF LOVE features audio cassette programs 3 & 4 of MASTER OF YOUR OWN FATE; and Volume 3 of THE STORY OF LOVE features the music from MASTER OF YOUR OWN FATE - even though Volumes 1 & 2 of THE STORY OF LOVE features the music of MASTER OF YOUR OWN FATE, too - though interspersed between various commentaries. Volumes 1 & 2 of THE STORY OF LOVE features the entire series, however; and Volume 3 is only an extra. I will make Volume 3 available only upon Special Request.

Until a more professional DVD series can be produced, I will be happy to make a copy of THE STORY OF LOVE for any who might want to enjoy it. Careful! This one challenges in lyrics and commentaries a lot of traditional notions - like sin and Divine Judgment - and that Jesus was really a Jewish Messiah. If interested, however, simply go to my writings website - www.una-bella-vita.com - and email me your request. OK? If I can honor a request, I will. If I can't, I will tell you so by return email.

To continue, some of the songs in this song book are featured in an attempted musical screenplay (or operetta) I wrote in 1986 featuring a Naturalist town. I called that effort SUMMER TOWN. I have not even attempted to do anything with that yet; but there is always tomorrow. Right? Maybe some bold Hollywood producer will take a chance on my screenplay - and maybe change the world forever by doing so. Who knows?

SUMMER TOWN, however, is one of five stories included in a compilation of non conventional philosophical naturalist stories I call FIVE HEAVEN ON EARTH STORIES that I published in 2015 via the same production company - Create Space - that is publishing this volume. If interested, you can review the songs of that feature within the SUMMER TOWN story featured in that volume.

I am what I consider a Divine Naturist (my own term for one who believes as I do) – or Naturalist – in terms of believing that God is in everything, making everything Divine. Much of that philosophy was featured in the two audio cassette albums of mention above - and, of course, in my DVD series I call THE STORY OF LOVE - and much of that philosophy is featured in many of my lyrics - including that early song - Joyful Happy Sounds - my original namesake for my earlier book of original poetry and song. To a great extent, this is a volume of poetry and song reflecting my love of Nature and my love of myself as part of Nature – seeing myself as Divine, along with everyone and everything. I am not special in my Divinity. I think everyone is Divine, but few realize it.

I will let my lyrics speak for themselves. Not all of them reflect my Divine Naturalism, but many of them do. I hope you find them somewhat satisfying.

It may seem a bit superfluous, but I am attaching a "By Francis William Bessler" to each song (or poem) in this song book in order to clarify authorship if someone chooses to print a song or two. By all means, print a page or two from this work as you may wish in order to share what you may have chosen to print. All songs are really only lyrics as featured here. None of my songs have been scored with notes at this time - November, 2018 - though some of them have been sung by ear according to tunes I may have provided to an accompanist - like Jodi & Debbie for FEELING FREE and Gary and Jackie for MASTER OF YOUR OWN FATE. If you find a song attractive and wish to feature it in a program of your own, supply your own tune to it - and sing it out. OK?

I am featuring my songs in alphabetical order, not chronological order - or not in the order in which they were written; however at the end, I am providing a list of my songs in the order in which they were written, in case of any interest in such.

Also, with each song, I am noting my location when I wrote it. For instance, if I wrote a song in Colorado, it will be noted as such; and if I wrote a song at a location in Georgia or Wyoming, it will be duly noted. I have lived in quite a few locations in Colorado and Georgia, however; but where I have lived in a suburb of Denver, Colorado or Atlanta, Georgia, I will be noting only the metro area - as in Denver or Atlanta - and not a suburb where I might have lived and where I might have written a song.

For example, I lived in a suburb of Denver, Colorado called Commerce City for ten years from 1967 to 1977 with my first wife, Dee, and adopted daughter, Anita - and I wrote quite a few songs during that time, but I will note as "Denver" the location where I wrote a song of that period in this song book.

The original JOYFUL HAPPY SOUNDS contained 198 songs, for those written by the time of its publication in 2015, however, this revised edition includes 204 songs, including 6 that I wrote while compiling a book I published in 2017 called IT’S A NEW DAY. I am including them as “addendum encore” songs (199-204) as a means to set them apart from the earlier alphabetically arranged “book of songs.”

Before I continue, let me repeat my earlier dedication on page 2. I dedicate this final book (of 8) to everyone – past, present, and future – including to a granddaughter, Amelia Francis, scheduled now to be born of my lovely daughter, Melissa, and her co-parent partner, Jeff, in early April of 2019. Welcome, Amelia Francis “Bessler!” Here’s hoping that through his writings, your grandfather can make for a more worthy-minded, gentler and kinder world than we have known in the past. Here’s Hoping!

I would be less than honest, however, if I do not pay tribute, as it were, to so many who have been part of the process of all my books. In truth, I am only one of many who have been part of that process. No one is alone; and that certainly includes me. I will not attempt to name the many to whom I owe a pledge of gratitude, but I will name one – and that one is Nancy Shaw, my lovely wife.

If it were not for Nancy, you would not now be reading this book – or any that I have been privileged to publish recently. Nancy insisted that I need to make my writings available in “book lap” form, as she offers. That is, people need to have a book they can hold in their lap to read; and she believes that my books should be so available; and thus, with Nancy’s support and encouragement, I am making my writings available in “book lap” form – though I am also making them available in digital form too, via Kindle.

So, if you wish, take one of my books, hold it in your lap, open it and read it – and hopefully be encouraged to know that Life is Precious as it is because it is a Miracle having the Presence of Divinity within it. Thank you, Nancy, for your encouragement and support – and Thanks to All who have been a part of my Wonderful Life!

Choose Your Jesus -
And
Good Luck!

What does luck have to do with it? Some would argue – from belief, perhaps – that if you choose Jesus, it is “luck” you are choosing. If you do not choose Jesus, then you are automatically “out of luck.” That’s all there is to it. There is only one Jesus. Choose that one Jesus – and Presto, you will be lucky forever by belonging to a special Kingdom that will have Jesus as its Lord & Master.

As I see it now, that may be the case, but probably isn’t. Why? Because there is not just one Jesus. Most folks don’t know it, but there were several different renditions of Jesus written by so called “disciples of Jesus.” Some who wrote about him saw him as a king or lord; however others who wrote about him saw him simply as a “practitioner of kindness or equality, via a sense of self-worth.” For the latter, it is only a sense of self-worth and kindness that represents the “Kingdom of Jesus.” For others, it was – and is – all about “power.” Nothing more, nothing less.

I mentioned that several different stories about Jesus were written. There were the mostly known stories by the Gospel writers – Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. These stories told about a Jesus related to a kingdom of power only. They argued that you have to belong to a “kingdom of power” to be saved – and the way to that kingdom is belief in Jesus as proper lord of that kingdom.

Then there were other stories written that imply that Jesus was not about power – or having it to be “saved” by it, as it were. Such were the Gospels of the Apostle, Thomas, and the Apostle, Mary Magdalene. Mary argued that Jesus claimed we have to respect the “child of humanity” within us to be saved. That’s it! No story of power there, is there? Thomas argued that Jesus claimed that to find the Kingdom (of Peace), all one has to do is “make the two one, make the inner as the outer, and the outer as the inner, and the above as the below, and the male and the female into a single one, so that the male will not be male, and the female not be female, then shall you enter the kingdom.” Again, no power needed. In general, just treat everyone the same – simply because everyone has equal worth, possessing the Same Divinity. That is all there is to it. At least, that is my interpretation of that verse – Verse 22 (of 114).

So, you see, there was not just one story of Jesus told; however, in the 4th Century, when it came time to declare which stories should be believed when the BIBLE was compiled by the bishops of the day, the only stories included were the stories offered by Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. The bishops excluded the stories of Thomas and Mary – and others like Philip. Accordingly, we Christians have only been permitted to review the Gospels of Power written by Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John, and have not been allowed the contrary Gospels of Kindness & Equality written by Thomas & Mary, to name two who were excluded.

I won’t pursue the Gospels of Thomas and Mary here, but I do cover them in other of my writings. If my brief ideas about that “other Jesus” here appeal to you, then welcome to those different tales. See BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR at the end of this work for my other books – including one called JESUS – ACCORDING TO THOMAS & MARY – AND ME and one called EXPLORING THE SOUL – AND BROTHER JESUS.

Importantly, however, my songs (and poems) and all of my
writings offer a perspective and vision of life that does not accent power as a way of salvation. Some can relate to that tale of peace without power – or peace not depending on power – and some cannot; but for what it’s worth, my songs and my other writings do offer an “alternative Christian outlook.”

Essentially, that outlook is about believing we are all alike because we are all Divine. Thus, my title to define myself – Divine Naturist. I do believe Jesus was – and is – a Divine Naturist too. He did not call himself that, but he told that same tale by offering his “Marian” tale that we should embrace the “child of humanity” – without sin - within us and the “Thomistic” tale of salvation that we should see “the two as one, the outer as the inner, the male and the female as a single one,” etc.

In truth, in my life, the key for finding peace has been just that – seeing all as one and one as all. When you do that, there is only one conduct – KINDNESS; for you cannot defile one who is like you. If you are a turkey, see yourself as an eagle – or at least, treat yourself as one. If you see yourself as an eagle, treat yourself like you are a turkey. There is nothing complicated about that. Is there?

My son-in-law, Jeff, recently reminded me of an old saying that says: How am I supposed to soar like an eagle when I am working with a bunch of turkeys? My answer to that: start strutting like a turkey, then take off as a “fellow bird” – and Presto, you are still the eagle you really are, but you get along with all the turkeys as if they are also eagles. Enjoy being an eagle, but don’t look down on your fellow birds – turkeys or crows or whatever. That indeed has been my key for finding peace in life.

Be that as it may, perhaps in the future – be that future near or far away – the Christian world will accept that there really are two basic tales of Jesus – and not just the one espoused by Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. These four – like the leader, Peter, they followed – were looking for power as a prescription of or for peace – and their Jesus had to conform to that need. Thomas and Mary were not looking for power – and thus, they heard a different Jesus. Welcome to that “different Jesus” in many of my writings. Enjoy them as you can – and share them as you will. OK?

In closing, I’d like to ask you to overlook the inconsistency in my writings – including in all of the songs of this “album” or “hymnal.” Sometime I capitalize a word – and then in another selection, that same word is offered in a lower case only. Example: sometimes I offer “friend” and in another case, I offer “Friend.” Sometimes I offer “heaven” and in another case, I offer “Heaven.” Etc. If capitalization distracts, pay attention only to the word. If you like my use of capitalization, then so be it. I must admit that I am inconsistent in my writings, but the real meaning of that may be that it doesn’t really matter. One could add to that directive of Jesus – see the capital as the lower and the lower as the capital – and you will find the Kingdom.


Thanks so much! Let us all find peace in whichever way we consider appropriate; but if we are wise, we will consider various alternatives and choose between them.

Gently,

Francis William Bessler
Laramie, Wyoming, U.S.A.
November 8th, 2018


INDEX
(Mostly songs. Poems noted in parenthesis.) ETC. Book contains 482 pages.