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A miracle is a positive event in our lives that seems to oppose the laws of physics or the natural order of things. Perhaps miracles are natural events outside
of peripheral perception or beyond the limits of human reasoning that gives hope in times of despair or uncertainty.
Take a moment and think of all the people who are so commonplace in your daily affairs, they seem to be non-existent or completely invisible at times, such
as a house keeper, security guards, maintenance personnel, students, clerks, grounds people, local grocer, or even a spouse.
At times, gender, race, and cultural groups seem to ride in a perceptual blind spot of social recognition. There is a good chance that even people of
prestigious positions such as a Mayor, Senator, constable, banker, or your own child’s teacher go unnoticed and you may have experienced difficulty with
their names or would not recognize them at a social function.
Certainly, the people that hosted such a function, the workers, the servers, and those that prepared the food and drink, dwell in the peripheral blind spot of
social invisibility. Could it be that there is an everyday ordinary common god, as close as the invisible nose on your face, working miracles in your life?
I met Mary a few years back while doing research on the origin and history of the Medina Dam Reservoir in rural South Texas, the oldest concrete reservoir
developed, financed, and engineered by a man who lost his life on the Lusitania, torpedoed by a German U-boat U-20 on 7 May 1915, an event that brought
the United States into the Great World War, now known as World War I as a matter of history repeating World War II.
The Medina Reservoir Irrigation system was expanded during the Roosevelt's New Deal era creating 1000's of jobs for the undereducated unemployed after
the Black Monday stock market crash of 1929 into a recession so deep it is remembered as the Great Depression, the biggest financial meltdown in the
history of the United States which had an effect on the world’s economic health for the next 40 years.
I have forgotten the Medina Reservoirs developers name engraved on a brass plate that is no longer assessable as in days of my youth, fenced in with high
barbed wired fences financed by the 911 Patriot Act in the name of National Security by the newly formed Texas Anti-terrorism Task Force while I was away
working in China.
Little did I know the anti-terrorism task force brought back the corruption of the McCarthyism era, 1940’s-1950’s, an anti-communism domestic surveillance
program developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation led by J Edgar Hoover, dictating We The People as enemies of the State.
Nor, as my eyes look for a way to circumvent the barrier for a photograph of the historic marker; followed the bottom of the fence upwards over the spiraling
razor wire peering into deep space, aware of my tiny insignificance in the whole of things unaware of a satellite perched over my GPS position. Nor, did I heed
the words that Mary had said, “Somebody is Always Watching.”
Corruption and politics has never interested me much, and if it were not for the Secret Service visiting our farm and threatening my family three times in 2008,
and the continual intrusion of my privacy of being stalked and tracked by new high tech domestic surveillance devices and the illegal incorporation of a
private firm on a Texas University that brought myself and family great harm, I would have never of given much thought to Global Economic Crisis; however, I
just happen to be one of those people that dwell in the peripheral blind spot of social invisibility, just your everyday ordinary common mystic.
Poetry developed 20,000 years ago as hymns chanted or sung by Mystics in the same way songs developed from illiterate American slaves from conceptions
beyond the temporal binary association of rational thought I call “Pennies from Heaven.” In times of despair Mystics seek Divine guidance by shifting their
consciousness beyond binary associations and often times write these experiences down in verse; or the poem that has already been written.
The pragmatic calls these blessing of inspiration the abstract, but in reality the abstract is the logical linear written expression we call a poem. A better
example would be a highway map which is an abstract drawing of empirical objects, another would be an linear typed engineering design without illustrations
which is in fact an abstract design. Abstract designs includes the best software applications of today or tomorrow that will never break through the linguistic
sound barrier of binary associations- known as the Ontological Dilemma or the fact “to know is to be human.” Digital systems have proven to be good slaves
for mankind but make very bad Masters.
Thank God for miracles or positive events in our lives that seems to oppose the laws of physics or the natural order of things such in my case which reflected
karmic harm back to those that bring harm to the harmless!
The new 911 free- for- all spending Act mandated by George Bush Jr. drained our economy by paying our neighbors to keep an eye on us as secret
intelligence operatives and corporations now protected by the secret emergency measure under the guise to keep us safe while violating the intent to our
right to personal privacy protected by our constitution.
Every time congress enacts a new law, no matter how trivial, we are strip of our freedom to legislate our own actions and places the burden of our behavior
on Law Enforcement Agencies. If congress were to pass a law today that band sex, very few would obey the law nor would the police enforce it; however, if
the law only applies to the citizens and not to those who govern or the police who are rewarded for enforcing the law, violates the 'rule of law' that only leads
to government corruption.
Likewise, congressional law makers know, no matter how rational a proposition may seem in theory, the only way to prove a legislative mandate benefits the
better good is after the law is applied. If a newly drafted law is the cause of better sweet consequences or unjust; the law is debated by a congressional
oversight committee, and if necessary adjusted in some way or is repealed.
Legislative laws that produce dire consequences, especially for those that band together as Special Interest Groups and those that govern, creates a power
uproar so loud it calls for immediate action and in some cases Martial law is supreme as we have seen after the 911 attack on New York City with the
disregard to our right to privacy which is also a constitutional necessity.
Emergency executive orders or Martial at the state level such as Texas were rightly approved and enacted to protect the whole body of the United States
from Terrorism with good reason, we had just been attacked with our own passenger airlines that brought down the twin towers that stood high above the New
York city sky-line which hosted the worlds global financial centers that killed never 4000 people, September 11, 2001. On this same day attempts to destroy
the Pentagon and the White House failed to complete their mission, praise God.
Lieutenant Texas Governor James Richard Perry, known as “Rick Perry” assumed the office of Texas Governor by protocol of George W. Bush winning
presidential election in 2000 just months before the attack and issued an executive order RP8 "Relating to the Governor's Task Force of Homeland Security."
"This executive order supersedes all previous orders and shall remain in effect and in full force until modified, amended, rescinded, or superseded by me
[Governor Rick Perry] or by a succeeding Governor.”
Unfortunately, The order has never been rescinded or was still in effect as of his third election in 2010 which gave the Governor almost complete dictatorship
in Texas which included over 3000 bias appointees of Public Trust some embedded in the supreme court creating a corrupt Texas Justice system.
Executive Order RP8 violated the Civil and Human Rights of all Texas Citizens clearly expressed by the Constitution of the United States of America. Texas
Governor Rick Perry used Overt and Convert Acts against the people of Texas solely to retain power and oppress the people of Texas in the name of
National Security justified by the 911 Patriot Act. He openly declared war on the United States and attempted succession from the Union without
consideration of law abiding American Patriots who reside in Texas and are United States Citizens.
The Governor of Texas by virtue of the power and authority is legally responsible for and is directly linked to the abuse of Federal Funds by his signature of
executive order RP8 which formed the Texas anti-terrorism task force which has lead to political favors that include State as well as Federal employees who
freely act without fear of prosecution as if above the law.
Texas Governor Rick Perry sat aloof of illegal acts as if by washing his hands releases him from any involvement as all others by his orders must suffer
punishment by law as a consequence of his executive emergency order and their own illegal actions. These favors or lawless orders are justified by fear of a
necessary evil for a better good against an unidentified fictitious enemy of the United Stats by using the term 'Terrorism or Terrorist' instead of specific
persons or organizations that have attacked or plan to attack the United States or at war with the same which lends to the abuse of power by fear of unknown
threats to retain power and oppress the people by anti-ethical investigations devices and by prosecution of the innocent with undue conspiracy charges
whenever the Governor of Texas cries wolf or 'Terrorism.'
Financial corruption followed George W. Bush Mandate until 2009 in all States because the 911 Patriot Act which by general consensus of being at war, no
one question trillions of dollars of expenditures in the name of national security justified by the 911 patriot act. In the case of the State of Texas, financial
statistics accounted for over twenty present of our nations debt between the periods of 2001-2008 and a 23 Billion dollar deficit in the State of Texas own
treasury. The office of Texas comptroller accounted for every penny as a precursor letter in 2006 that the “Perry Tax Plan is the Biggest Hot Check in Texas
History” and projected a 23 Billion dollar shortfall in 2010 which all Texans mostly children, the elderly, and those that require social services suffered
dramatically from the consequences of the Governors tax legislation.
In 2009, newly elected President Barrack Obama corrected this Naming and Necessity problem by clearly identifying that United States was at war with a
specific organization known as Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is a global militant Sunni Islamist group founded by Osama bin Laden. I understand Osama bin Laden
was the leader of "A group called The Islamic Movement for Change" that claimed responsibility of the first federal building bombing in Saudi Arabia. I have
good reason to believe it, if I was a witness to the first federal bombing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 13, 1995 as well as my departed wife who was a
Federal Worker at the time and I was her dependent. She did not die in the explosion but from unrelated causes later in life years before I met Mary and
thought I would never love again.
When the 911 Act was drafted, great care and concern for our constitutional right to privacy and due process lead to a serious philosophical debate in
regards to privacy intrusions; not those that are mere mild irritations of privacy but those violations that could endanger the lives of others such as
wiretapping, domestic surveillance, and sharing of classified information between the FBI and police or those of Public Trust including private firms.
Once the 911 Act was passed, privacy intrusions became a matter of public trust which is an ethical concern and not a point of law. Ethics is only a concern
for those that are honorable and honest; however, many people consider morality as a moot notion such as those who argue the new age Kant Hedonism
theory, "If we don't know where we came from and we don't know where we are going, why should we care about the way we act?"
This is not to say those of Public Trust are dishonest, because it is more likely to be true to say "everybody is honest"; therefore, the problem of privacy
violations is not an ethical concern of honesty but a point of trustworthiness which is a point of law.
Systemic rules are rules of trustworthiness such as the policies at any bank which incorporate checks and balances that are tedious and seem to be
ambiguous to ensure the investors that the bank is trustworthy, which is not the case of honesty or an ethical concern.
The 911 act was mandated by President George Bush Jr. for good reason with the intent to "keep us safer" but those in positions of public trust that take
Kant's free will theory literally, without ethical judgment but to the letter of the law, used the 911 Act to fleece our countries coffers and create trillions of
dollars in debt while lining their own pockets with gold at the same time busied themselves building political empires.
People that consider ethics as a moot notion will not disclose the fact they do not care about the way they act; however, you can identify them when they
show no empathy or justify an unethical life style by making such statements “If you have a concern about it, then make a law against it!"
One of the first bold acts of our newly elected Commander-n-Chief, President Barack Obama in April of 2009, was to make sure the application of the Rule of
Law was applied by incorporating systemic mandates or rules of checks and balances that ensure those of Public Trust are Trustworthy. Again, this is not a
question of honesty, everybody is honest. The rule of law simply means the application of the law applies to those that are governed and those that govern
too. Nobody is above the law or can anyone make an exception to the law.
Most citizens believe that the 911 Act overrides all privacy laws including those government agencies that enforce laws that ensures our right to privacy by
evidence of backlogs of complaints that go back for many years, as if the right to privacy is no longer a law that anyone obeys such as a law that would make
sex an illegal act- nobody will obey it not even the police. If we apply an exception to the rule that sex is a violation punishable by law except for those that
enforce the law is that '“slippery slope" of corruption that in part or by whole caused the biggest Global Economic Meltdown in over one hundred years.
The 911 Act speed and impact of destruction to global economic health could not have been possible without the incorporation of private security firms and
data bases or computer applications that were hard wired to favorable responses without an audit trail or any quality assurance systems that once required
human intervention.
Total reliance of computer applications gave these private firms or any illegitimate State Militia the disastrous ability to access payment for goods and
services without competitive bids or worse, corporations where paid for not providing any services expect for an accounts receivable and accounts payable
system tied to automatic payments from the federal government. Many of these firms and government organizations used blanket covers of National Security
justified by the 911 Patriot Act. The 911 Free-for-all spending act justified funds and triggered automatic payments without an audit trail or auditors.
The best software applications of today or tomorrow will never break through the linguistic sound barrier of binary associations- to know is to be human.
Without a doubt, computer devices that produce artificial Intelligence are useful tools for mankind. Likewise, as recent history has shown, artificial Intelligence
has proven to be a very good slave but also a very bad MASTER!
The 911 Patriot Act caused the greatest global economic meltdown by the time I graduated in fall 2008 “Class of Global Economic Crisis” which was history
repeating, but no one wanted to call the crisis by its real name The Great Depression II. Think of all that book editing to go back and rename The Great
Depression I of 1929.
I gathered my research by interviewing Alsatian immigrants in Castroville, Texas who still had living memory of the area’s history and spending days in the
Castroville library that had a collection of local, national, and international works not yet replaced by online computer terminals. Unlike the nearest university
library empty of books and people, this small town book depository was full of locals reading books and enjoying the library’s resources less history repeat!
My home, a farm house, was miles away from my field project so I spent the last night in an old Inn after interviewing Mary, a young lady my age for
information concerning my research. Mary, a Park Ranger, suggested that I stay at the local historic Landmark Inn which was the beginning of a lifelong
relationship.
of peripheral perception or beyond the limits of human reasoning that gives hope in times of despair or uncertainty.
Take a moment and think of all the people who are so commonplace in your daily affairs, they seem to be non-existent or completely invisible at times, such
as a house keeper, security guards, maintenance personnel, students, clerks, grounds people, local grocer, or even a spouse.
At times, gender, race, and cultural groups seem to ride in a perceptual blind spot of social recognition. There is a good chance that even people of
prestigious positions such as a Mayor, Senator, constable, banker, or your own child’s teacher go unnoticed and you may have experienced difficulty with
their names or would not recognize them at a social function.
Certainly, the people that hosted such a function, the workers, the servers, and those that prepared the food and drink, dwell in the peripheral blind spot of
social invisibility. Could it be that there is an everyday ordinary common god, as close as the invisible nose on your face, working miracles in your life?
I met Mary a few years back while doing research on the origin and history of the Medina Dam Reservoir in rural South Texas, the oldest concrete reservoir
developed, financed, and engineered by a man who lost his life on the Lusitania, torpedoed by a German U-boat U-20 on 7 May 1915, an event that brought
the United States into the Great World War, now known as World War I as a matter of history repeating World War II.
The Medina Reservoir Irrigation system was expanded during the Roosevelt's New Deal era creating 1000's of jobs for the undereducated unemployed after
the Black Monday stock market crash of 1929 into a recession so deep it is remembered as the Great Depression, the biggest financial meltdown in the
history of the United States which had an effect on the world’s economic health for the next 40 years.
I have forgotten the Medina Reservoirs developers name engraved on a brass plate that is no longer assessable as in days of my youth, fenced in with high
barbed wired fences financed by the 911 Patriot Act in the name of National Security by the newly formed Texas Anti-terrorism Task Force while I was away
working in China.
Little did I know the anti-terrorism task force brought back the corruption of the McCarthyism era, 1940’s-1950’s, an anti-communism domestic surveillance
program developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation led by J Edgar Hoover, dictating We The People as enemies of the State.
Nor, as my eyes look for a way to circumvent the barrier for a photograph of the historic marker; followed the bottom of the fence upwards over the spiraling
razor wire peering into deep space, aware of my tiny insignificance in the whole of things unaware of a satellite perched over my GPS position. Nor, did I heed
the words that Mary had said, “Somebody is Always Watching.”
Corruption and politics has never interested me much, and if it were not for the Secret Service visiting our farm and threatening my family three times in 2008,
and the continual intrusion of my privacy of being stalked and tracked by new high tech domestic surveillance devices and the illegal incorporation of a
private firm on a Texas University that brought myself and family great harm, I would have never of given much thought to Global Economic Crisis; however, I
just happen to be one of those people that dwell in the peripheral blind spot of social invisibility, just your everyday ordinary common mystic.
Poetry developed 20,000 years ago as hymns chanted or sung by Mystics in the same way songs developed from illiterate American slaves from conceptions
beyond the temporal binary association of rational thought I call “Pennies from Heaven.” In times of despair Mystics seek Divine guidance by shifting their
consciousness beyond binary associations and often times write these experiences down in verse; or the poem that has already been written.
The pragmatic calls these blessing of inspiration the abstract, but in reality the abstract is the logical linear written expression we call a poem. A better
example would be a highway map which is an abstract drawing of empirical objects, another would be an linear typed engineering design without illustrations
which is in fact an abstract design. Abstract designs includes the best software applications of today or tomorrow that will never break through the linguistic
sound barrier of binary associations- known as the Ontological Dilemma or the fact “to know is to be human.” Digital systems have proven to be good slaves
for mankind but make very bad Masters.
Thank God for miracles or positive events in our lives that seems to oppose the laws of physics or the natural order of things such in my case which reflected
karmic harm back to those that bring harm to the harmless!
The new 911 free- for- all spending Act mandated by George Bush Jr. drained our economy by paying our neighbors to keep an eye on us as secret
intelligence operatives and corporations now protected by the secret emergency measure under the guise to keep us safe while violating the intent to our
right to personal privacy protected by our constitution.
Every time congress enacts a new law, no matter how trivial, we are strip of our freedom to legislate our own actions and places the burden of our behavior
on Law Enforcement Agencies. If congress were to pass a law today that band sex, very few would obey the law nor would the police enforce it; however, if
the law only applies to the citizens and not to those who govern or the police who are rewarded for enforcing the law, violates the 'rule of law' that only leads
to government corruption.
Likewise, congressional law makers know, no matter how rational a proposition may seem in theory, the only way to prove a legislative mandate benefits the
better good is after the law is applied. If a newly drafted law is the cause of better sweet consequences or unjust; the law is debated by a congressional
oversight committee, and if necessary adjusted in some way or is repealed.
Legislative laws that produce dire consequences, especially for those that band together as Special Interest Groups and those that govern, creates a power
uproar so loud it calls for immediate action and in some cases Martial law is supreme as we have seen after the 911 attack on New York City with the
disregard to our right to privacy which is also a constitutional necessity.
Emergency executive orders or Martial at the state level such as Texas were rightly approved and enacted to protect the whole body of the United States
from Terrorism with good reason, we had just been attacked with our own passenger airlines that brought down the twin towers that stood high above the New
York city sky-line which hosted the worlds global financial centers that killed never 4000 people, September 11, 2001. On this same day attempts to destroy
the Pentagon and the White House failed to complete their mission, praise God.
Lieutenant Texas Governor James Richard Perry, known as “Rick Perry” assumed the office of Texas Governor by protocol of George W. Bush winning
presidential election in 2000 just months before the attack and issued an executive order RP8 "Relating to the Governor's Task Force of Homeland Security."
"This executive order supersedes all previous orders and shall remain in effect and in full force until modified, amended, rescinded, or superseded by me
[Governor Rick Perry] or by a succeeding Governor.”
Unfortunately, The order has never been rescinded or was still in effect as of his third election in 2010 which gave the Governor almost complete dictatorship
in Texas which included over 3000 bias appointees of Public Trust some embedded in the supreme court creating a corrupt Texas Justice system.
Executive Order RP8 violated the Civil and Human Rights of all Texas Citizens clearly expressed by the Constitution of the United States of America. Texas
Governor Rick Perry used Overt and Convert Acts against the people of Texas solely to retain power and oppress the people of Texas in the name of
National Security justified by the 911 Patriot Act. He openly declared war on the United States and attempted succession from the Union without
consideration of law abiding American Patriots who reside in Texas and are United States Citizens.
The Governor of Texas by virtue of the power and authority is legally responsible for and is directly linked to the abuse of Federal Funds by his signature of
executive order RP8 which formed the Texas anti-terrorism task force which has lead to political favors that include State as well as Federal employees who
freely act without fear of prosecution as if above the law.
Texas Governor Rick Perry sat aloof of illegal acts as if by washing his hands releases him from any involvement as all others by his orders must suffer
punishment by law as a consequence of his executive emergency order and their own illegal actions. These favors or lawless orders are justified by fear of a
necessary evil for a better good against an unidentified fictitious enemy of the United Stats by using the term 'Terrorism or Terrorist' instead of specific
persons or organizations that have attacked or plan to attack the United States or at war with the same which lends to the abuse of power by fear of unknown
threats to retain power and oppress the people by anti-ethical investigations devices and by prosecution of the innocent with undue conspiracy charges
whenever the Governor of Texas cries wolf or 'Terrorism.'
Financial corruption followed George W. Bush Mandate until 2009 in all States because the 911 Patriot Act which by general consensus of being at war, no
one question trillions of dollars of expenditures in the name of national security justified by the 911 patriot act. In the case of the State of Texas, financial
statistics accounted for over twenty present of our nations debt between the periods of 2001-2008 and a 23 Billion dollar deficit in the State of Texas own
treasury. The office of Texas comptroller accounted for every penny as a precursor letter in 2006 that the “Perry Tax Plan is the Biggest Hot Check in Texas
History” and projected a 23 Billion dollar shortfall in 2010 which all Texans mostly children, the elderly, and those that require social services suffered
dramatically from the consequences of the Governors tax legislation.
In 2009, newly elected President Barrack Obama corrected this Naming and Necessity problem by clearly identifying that United States was at war with a
specific organization known as Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is a global militant Sunni Islamist group founded by Osama bin Laden. I understand Osama bin Laden
was the leader of "A group called The Islamic Movement for Change" that claimed responsibility of the first federal building bombing in Saudi Arabia. I have
good reason to believe it, if I was a witness to the first federal bombing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 13, 1995 as well as my departed wife who was a
Federal Worker at the time and I was her dependent. She did not die in the explosion but from unrelated causes later in life years before I met Mary and
thought I would never love again.
When the 911 Act was drafted, great care and concern for our constitutional right to privacy and due process lead to a serious philosophical debate in
regards to privacy intrusions; not those that are mere mild irritations of privacy but those violations that could endanger the lives of others such as
wiretapping, domestic surveillance, and sharing of classified information between the FBI and police or those of Public Trust including private firms.
Once the 911 Act was passed, privacy intrusions became a matter of public trust which is an ethical concern and not a point of law. Ethics is only a concern
for those that are honorable and honest; however, many people consider morality as a moot notion such as those who argue the new age Kant Hedonism
theory, "If we don't know where we came from and we don't know where we are going, why should we care about the way we act?"
This is not to say those of Public Trust are dishonest, because it is more likely to be true to say "everybody is honest"; therefore, the problem of privacy
violations is not an ethical concern of honesty but a point of trustworthiness which is a point of law.
Systemic rules are rules of trustworthiness such as the policies at any bank which incorporate checks and balances that are tedious and seem to be
ambiguous to ensure the investors that the bank is trustworthy, which is not the case of honesty or an ethical concern.
The 911 act was mandated by President George Bush Jr. for good reason with the intent to "keep us safer" but those in positions of public trust that take
Kant's free will theory literally, without ethical judgment but to the letter of the law, used the 911 Act to fleece our countries coffers and create trillions of
dollars in debt while lining their own pockets with gold at the same time busied themselves building political empires.
People that consider ethics as a moot notion will not disclose the fact they do not care about the way they act; however, you can identify them when they
show no empathy or justify an unethical life style by making such statements “If you have a concern about it, then make a law against it!"
One of the first bold acts of our newly elected Commander-n-Chief, President Barack Obama in April of 2009, was to make sure the application of the Rule of
Law was applied by incorporating systemic mandates or rules of checks and balances that ensure those of Public Trust are Trustworthy. Again, this is not a
question of honesty, everybody is honest. The rule of law simply means the application of the law applies to those that are governed and those that govern
too. Nobody is above the law or can anyone make an exception to the law.
Most citizens believe that the 911 Act overrides all privacy laws including those government agencies that enforce laws that ensures our right to privacy by
evidence of backlogs of complaints that go back for many years, as if the right to privacy is no longer a law that anyone obeys such as a law that would make
sex an illegal act- nobody will obey it not even the police. If we apply an exception to the rule that sex is a violation punishable by law except for those that
enforce the law is that '“slippery slope" of corruption that in part or by whole caused the biggest Global Economic Meltdown in over one hundred years.
The 911 Act speed and impact of destruction to global economic health could not have been possible without the incorporation of private security firms and
data bases or computer applications that were hard wired to favorable responses without an audit trail or any quality assurance systems that once required
human intervention.
Total reliance of computer applications gave these private firms or any illegitimate State Militia the disastrous ability to access payment for goods and
services without competitive bids or worse, corporations where paid for not providing any services expect for an accounts receivable and accounts payable
system tied to automatic payments from the federal government. Many of these firms and government organizations used blanket covers of National Security
justified by the 911 Patriot Act. The 911 Free-for-all spending act justified funds and triggered automatic payments without an audit trail or auditors.
The best software applications of today or tomorrow will never break through the linguistic sound barrier of binary associations- to know is to be human.
Without a doubt, computer devices that produce artificial Intelligence are useful tools for mankind. Likewise, as recent history has shown, artificial Intelligence
has proven to be a very good slave but also a very bad MASTER!
The 911 Patriot Act caused the greatest global economic meltdown by the time I graduated in fall 2008 “Class of Global Economic Crisis” which was history
repeating, but no one wanted to call the crisis by its real name The Great Depression II. Think of all that book editing to go back and rename The Great
Depression I of 1929.
I gathered my research by interviewing Alsatian immigrants in Castroville, Texas who still had living memory of the area’s history and spending days in the
Castroville library that had a collection of local, national, and international works not yet replaced by online computer terminals. Unlike the nearest university
library empty of books and people, this small town book depository was full of locals reading books and enjoying the library’s resources less history repeat!
My home, a farm house, was miles away from my field project so I spent the last night in an old Inn after interviewing Mary, a young lady my age for
information concerning my research. Mary, a Park Ranger, suggested that I stay at the local historic Landmark Inn which was the beginning of a lifelong
relationship.
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| From The Journal of A Texas Mystic |
| Chapter 1 Everyday Ordinary Miracles |
O'Dell, Gregory N. "Everyday ordinary Common Miricals:." Linearism.Org Advocacy For Human Rights. Nov. & dec. 2008. Web. 06 Feb. 2010. <http://www.linearism.org/TheJournalofATexasMysticChpterII>.
Cite This Page
Any free morning, a morning without the alarm clock, I wake to the automatic timing of my friend Mary’s secret ritual. Each free morning, I instinctively open
my eyes peering through my bedroom window watching her morning backyard ceremony. Unknown to Mary, I take part in our family ritual and can’t help but
question if the ceremonial part I play is inappropriate, not being of Catholic origin like Mary and we never talk of getting married. Nevertheless, as I watch her
baptize a statue of Saint Francis atop our bird bath with the garden hose, a brand new day opens up for me as I feel an easing of mind. I don’t know what it
does for her, but for me it’s sort of a rite of affliction; a daily renewal, or a cleansing of the soul.
Mary’s ritual started soon after she changed her mailing address to my old farm house at the end of some dusty Texas dirt road. Within the first few days,
household chores were divided into “her” category, and a “his” category; no longer his alone. Mary took over the important tasks; you know things like
washing dishes, cooking meals, and feeding my animals. Me, I have more time for the aesthetic masculine things like making sure the important things are
done properly.
The purpose of her secret ritual is unknown. It could possibly be that the garden hose is too short, and sprinkling is the only way to fill the bird bath with
water. The secrecy may be the fact that I have never asked her what she was doing. Why should I ask and ruin a good thing? Critical thinking has never
been much of a help to me in matters of the soul.
Catholic I’m not, nor do I have an objection to becoming a member but it is one religion I know very little about; its members seem to talk about Catholic
tradition only with other Catholic members. Occasionally they will surprise you and say something Catholic-like, “saint so and so appeared to me in a dream
and told me that everything will be alright,” but they usually end the conversation with the visual experience then move on to more earthly talk. That’s
probably the real reason why I don’t ask Mary about her morning ritual, not wanting to offend her faith and tradition. Then again, I just might surprise her with
my own cultural rituals- culture is not a good or bad thing, it’s just the best a group of people can do!
It seems to me that we are bound by instincts of affection, an innate fear of loneliness. That’s what culture is, something that’s familiar; shared with those that
we love. Sure, when we talk about culture, we misrepresent by illustrating blazing fashions, spicy foods, entertainment, and sometimes strong drink. Seldom
do we understand culture as a struggling extended family, chieftains by the order of a clan pulling together small nomad bands roaming the asphalt plains of
Advanced Civilization. I don’t think we will ever have it as good, back in the day, the Neolithic day.
So just maybe we misrepresent the Saint Francis’ tradition as we do other customs, and think of the saint in just poetic terms; a good saint who cares for
animals. It just could be that Saint Francis has deeper symbolic meaning, something grand or more encompassing; something that bonds all living things
together. And just maybe we understand that deeper meaning as something that need not be questioned or thought about; an innate understanding that is
universal without cultural boundaries.
The morning ritual is something close to me, a spiritual bedroom window view of my own backyard. The mystery behind my spiritual uplift is probably best left
unknown. It is probably best to keep quiet and appreciate the silent healing. Even if my rational mind describes the scene as just a religious icon or childish
fantasy, it moves me in a way that nothing else does. Perhaps Saint Francis is just a concrete statue on our bird bath, but when I open my sleepy morning
eyes- I see a Saint come to life by holy water, a rock hard concrete idea gleaming with compassion in the morning sun.
Our Rio Grande wild turkeys prefer drinking from the new bird bath statue Mary moved from her EZ Storage bin rather than their old rusty watering bucket. It
wasn’t long before these birds had to wait at the back door to be fed gracefully by a beautiful girl instead of the usual bucket of grain I would throw over their
fence. It took a while for Mary to understand the complexity of the different feeds, and daily bird proportions; but once I was sure she had a handle on it, she
improvised with old bread crumbs and had the birds eating right out of her hands. Kind of like what I understand Saint Francis would do, assuming he is the
designated saint of animals.
Like I said previously, critical thinking has never been much of a help to me in matters of the soul. All I know is on the dawn of my free mornings, when I
awaken to Mary’s “Saint Francis Baptismal” I have new insight, a spiritual awaking of a sort- something that gives me meaning and purpose. Why should I ask
Mary the meaning of her ritual and ruin a good thing?
The day I first met Mary, doing research on the Medina Dam reservoir, she suggested I stay at the Historic Landmark Inn in room number nine, so after a day
of research, I paid for a night’s lodging as the clerk explained that Mary had returned to San Antonio at the end of her shift. The clerk went on to explain,
Stephen F. Austin granted the farm land of the Medina Valley to Henri Castro for establishing a colony of Alsatian immigrants in Texas around 1842 and the
Landmark Inn was built around the early settlement carrying different names as owners over time.
My arms full of text books, I walked the rickety stairs to room number nine intent on continuing my studies but fell fast asleep the moment I laid down on the
soft antique brass bed. Around 1:00 am, my right eye opened to the door knob of my room turning; however the door was locked and I assumed it was just
another guest at the wrong door. I fell back to sleep to be awakened by pebbles hitting my up stairs antique plate glass window. Fully awake now, I got up to
look outside but saw nothing or no one in the well-lit yard grounds and went back to a sound sleep.
Once again, around 3:30 am, my right eye opened to the door knob of my room turning repeatedly and now a push against it each time. My first thought was
the inn was haunted but dismissed the thought, thinking another guest had too much to drink and was at the wrong door. Before I rose up to assist, the
turning stop and I heard footsteps walking away.
The next morning, I waited outside the Inn’s dining room reading as I waited for the other guest to wake for breakfast. Mary appeared and explained the food
was getting cold if I would like some breakfast. I explained that I was waiting for the other guest. To my surprise Mary said, “What guest?” This is a weekday,
usually full on weekends and I was the only person registered.
Mary must have noticed my eyes, and whispered as if reading my mind, “Did you see it?” “See what?” I responded. “The ghost” she explained. The moment
she said, “did you see it?” my mind’s eye opened to a visual of an elderly couple glistening transparent bodies or ghost like figures pushing on my door
seeking my help as if they were lost between two worlds, their memories of the living the realities of the dead. Mary must have noticed the remorseful feeling
of guilt on my face as I toyed with the idea that maybe I could of help them if I opened the door and offered some comfort but remained in bed.
A period of time had passed before my attention focused to the present moment, as I realized Mary was offering a silver serving tray of bite size cuts of exotic
cheese, crackers, chocolates, breakfast tarts, and local homemade Alsatian sausage, and she was asking for the third time with an escalating rise in her
voice, “Would you care for some cheese and crackers?” “Oh no, I’ll have something light. Do you have some cereal or juice?” I responded and acted as if I
was day dreaming or a little absent-minded, a habit I had obtained over the years when caught in the act of a shifting to another state of consciousness or a
transpersonal way of knowing.
People like me compensate in order to disguise talents that most would never understand to avoid appearing abnormal or making someone feel
uncomfortable about something that is natural to me but to some, beyond the limits of human reasoning. I quickly diverted her curiosity back to her, by asking
Mary to explain her belief in the ghost she revealed to me while I kept my secret of having a trans-personality in a closet in the furthest reaches of the back of
my mind.
Mary had seen ghosts at the Inn in the past. A ghost, if they do exist, is a phenomenon that seems to oppose the laws of physics or the natural order of
things; the sighting of a ghost would be something invisible to some or outside their peripheral perception but not for Mary and me. She talked of these
ghosts as if they were the souls of Texas pioneers that lived, worked, and died at the Inn centuries ago, some of which were caught between two worlds and
others that preferred to stay. I asked Mary, “If they were ghosts why didn’t they just walk through the walls instead of trying my door knob?” I answered my
own question by saying, “They can walk through walls but they cannot enter a locked room,” as if I knew what I was talking about which made little sense, but
kept the conversation going long enough for me to ask Mary to a movie. I didn’t get a “NO!” but did get a “maybe.”
Mary and I recognized we shared a lot of things in common such as our conversation about ghosts. When we talked about their souls we were speaking of
the essence of what makes us each a situated knower or the eyewitnesses of what we perceive. Perhaps getting a glimpse of this I-ness or eyewitness we
call soul while living or ghost after death of the body is phenomena beyond the scope of the way we understand physics or the natural order of things.
Perhaps we call the sighting of ghosts miracles, because it gives hope to overcome our grieving when someone we love passes and it strengthens a
conception that a God does exist that gives us purpose and meaning to live. After all, if souls exist, they must be something that dwells in the peripheral blind
spot of social invisibility if some claim to see them and others do not. Could it be that there is an everyday ordinary common god, outside of peripheral
perception as close as the invisible nose on your invisible face, working miracles in our lives?
So just maybe we do misrepresent the Saint Francis’ tradition as we do other customs, and think of the saint in just poetic terms; a good saint who cares for
animals. It just could be that Saint Francis has deeper symbolic meaning, something grand or more encompassing; something that bonds all living things
together. And just maybe we understand that deeper meaning as something that need not be questioned or thought about; an innate understanding that is
universal without cultural boundaries.
Before Mary and her belongings moved in with me, she asked what I believed in or did I have a spiritual tradition of my own. I explained I had a guiding star
that first appeared in my dreams when I was a young boy, a sort of guardian angel that I look to for guidance or a renewal of the soul. I was quick to point out
that my ritual of reverence was not of religious or of psychological importance but something dear and natural to me. She explained that she had similar
experiences and added, “Well it’s really all the same; we all pray to the same God.” I said nothing more about it, why should I and ruin a good thing?
One evening, while fast asleep, I shifted into a transpersonal state watching my body sleep and next to me Mary rose up from her sleeping body. She turns
and looks at me and said, “Oh, this is what you mean! I have been doing this since I can remember when I was a little girl.” I respond, “Yeah, this is it, nothing
complex or unnatural. Like I said before, I am not talking about anything new or some hocus-pocus psychic phenomenon, but I don’t know why I waste my
time, when you awake in the morning you will forget the whole thing.” “No I won’t,“ she said. “Yes you will, just like the others; you’ll forget.” “No I won’t, I’ll
show you,” she said. “Ok, but you will forget,” I said.
Seldom do I have such a willing transpersonal partner, so I thought about a way to prove it--a way to show Mary that she does have a higher consciousness
that is always awake and active, an innate universal knowing the Greeks coined the ‘logos’ or the known. So, I tell Mary, “Let’s check out the project in the
casting studio.” We had contracted with a small ceramic house in a town 60 miles from our home and my idea was to see if Mary could remember what we did
or at least what was viewed during our twilight travel.
Mary, thinking I was trying to prove that she would forget, sure of herself about something she had been doing nightly since she was a child, said “ok, let’s
go!” I could tell she was true to her word because she needed no instructions like the others, nor did she drift off into a dream as most do. Within a twinkle of
time, we were inside the ceramic studio behind locked doors viewing our project in-work. Of course our bodies still lay in the bed as our essence of souls
made a transpersonal shift to another place miles away. The term Transpersonal can best be defined as anything outside of yourself including yourself.
Next, we went our separate ways around the studio admiring the various work of the studio, while Mary was adventuring about for amusement; I was more
focused looking for something that she would not forget. I came upon the small project we had contracted weeks before and noticed that the original small
clay sculpture we contracted to reproduce a dozen ceramic replicas had cracked, or the front was shattered and taped together. This sometimes happens
during the process of making a mold of a clay model but Mary and I had no way to know where the broken sculpture was located in the shop or that the
sculpture was broken, nor did we know it was taped or how the sculpture was taped together, less the transpersonal shift, while at the same time we slept
soundly in our bedroom 60 miles away from the studio that we were now standing in.
The following day, I said nothing about the night’s events, and she suggested we go and see how our project was coming along at the ceramic shop. When
we arrived about noon, the shop was opened and we went in and walked directly to the project and she said, “It’s broken”. I said, “Yes, sometimes that
happens during the process but the replicas are just fine. Do you remember last night?” “No, What?” she responded.” “We were here last night as we slept
and dreamed.” “I remember something” she said as I said under my breath, “You forgot.”
Mary may have forgotten our transpersonal shift the night before, she did not forget her camera when we were physically there and once the photos were
developed revealed my guiding star inches from my head. The same guiding star that I described to Mary that first appeared in my dreams when I was a
young boy, a sort of guardian angel that I look to for guidance or a renewal of the soul, a rock hard idea such as Mary’s concrete statue of Saint Francis atop
our backyard birdbath. So, while I tried to prove something to Mary, Mary proved to me that there are things such as spirits or ghosts are natural events
outside of peripheral perception or beyond the limits of human reasoning that gives hope in times of despair or uncertainty.
Buddhist in South East China, particularly Thailand, erect small spirit houses, usually extended on a single pole about the size of a doll house to offer a
place for spirits of the dead and living to visit. While living on the Island of Koh Somui , Thailand, a young girl told me that they kept their own spirit house
extended way up high next to their bungalow stocked with gifts and food placed inside for passing souls or ancestors so they would not wake the household
going inside to freshen up from their twilight travels or perhaps looking for something to eat or drink. She also made of point of sometimes leaving notes on
paper requesting help with some matter or homemade gifts of thanks for assisting in a previous request or just a gift of love to those that had passed and
were dearly missed by the living.
Today, some indigenous tribes of the Amazon still practice the art of communicating and moving among the sprits in the night, just as Mary and I which
includes even the youngest of the household as they sleep together in shelters made of local weaved leaf walls, plank wood floor boards and large palm
leaves as the roof, four to six feet off the jungle floor supported by wood poles.
They talk of their experiences not only in the morning as if discussing a personal abstract dream but while they participate outside their own bodies and
testify to the occasional visitation of ancestors whose bodies have long passed just as a person of Catholic faith like Mary might say, “Saint Francis appeared
to me in a dream and something that troubled me the day before had been worked out so I need not worry anymore, because it is in God’s hands.”
Little did Mary and I know, that are loving relationship and simple life style would be interrupted by a corrupt political machine of republican ideologies that
had transformed Texas into a Police State and for the next three years our privacy and safety would be jeopardized by human behavioral experiments
outside of protocol and well outside terrorist threats that made us Targets of Domestic Surveillance. No longer would we enjoy the blessing of living outside
the realm of social recognition.
my eyes peering through my bedroom window watching her morning backyard ceremony. Unknown to Mary, I take part in our family ritual and can’t help but
question if the ceremonial part I play is inappropriate, not being of Catholic origin like Mary and we never talk of getting married. Nevertheless, as I watch her
baptize a statue of Saint Francis atop our bird bath with the garden hose, a brand new day opens up for me as I feel an easing of mind. I don’t know what it
does for her, but for me it’s sort of a rite of affliction; a daily renewal, or a cleansing of the soul.
Mary’s ritual started soon after she changed her mailing address to my old farm house at the end of some dusty Texas dirt road. Within the first few days,
household chores were divided into “her” category, and a “his” category; no longer his alone. Mary took over the important tasks; you know things like
washing dishes, cooking meals, and feeding my animals. Me, I have more time for the aesthetic masculine things like making sure the important things are
done properly.
The purpose of her secret ritual is unknown. It could possibly be that the garden hose is too short, and sprinkling is the only way to fill the bird bath with
water. The secrecy may be the fact that I have never asked her what she was doing. Why should I ask and ruin a good thing? Critical thinking has never
been much of a help to me in matters of the soul.
Catholic I’m not, nor do I have an objection to becoming a member but it is one religion I know very little about; its members seem to talk about Catholic
tradition only with other Catholic members. Occasionally they will surprise you and say something Catholic-like, “saint so and so appeared to me in a dream
and told me that everything will be alright,” but they usually end the conversation with the visual experience then move on to more earthly talk. That’s
probably the real reason why I don’t ask Mary about her morning ritual, not wanting to offend her faith and tradition. Then again, I just might surprise her with
my own cultural rituals- culture is not a good or bad thing, it’s just the best a group of people can do!
It seems to me that we are bound by instincts of affection, an innate fear of loneliness. That’s what culture is, something that’s familiar; shared with those that
we love. Sure, when we talk about culture, we misrepresent by illustrating blazing fashions, spicy foods, entertainment, and sometimes strong drink. Seldom
do we understand culture as a struggling extended family, chieftains by the order of a clan pulling together small nomad bands roaming the asphalt plains of
Advanced Civilization. I don’t think we will ever have it as good, back in the day, the Neolithic day.
So just maybe we misrepresent the Saint Francis’ tradition as we do other customs, and think of the saint in just poetic terms; a good saint who cares for
animals. It just could be that Saint Francis has deeper symbolic meaning, something grand or more encompassing; something that bonds all living things
together. And just maybe we understand that deeper meaning as something that need not be questioned or thought about; an innate understanding that is
universal without cultural boundaries.
The morning ritual is something close to me, a spiritual bedroom window view of my own backyard. The mystery behind my spiritual uplift is probably best left
unknown. It is probably best to keep quiet and appreciate the silent healing. Even if my rational mind describes the scene as just a religious icon or childish
fantasy, it moves me in a way that nothing else does. Perhaps Saint Francis is just a concrete statue on our bird bath, but when I open my sleepy morning
eyes- I see a Saint come to life by holy water, a rock hard concrete idea gleaming with compassion in the morning sun.
Our Rio Grande wild turkeys prefer drinking from the new bird bath statue Mary moved from her EZ Storage bin rather than their old rusty watering bucket. It
wasn’t long before these birds had to wait at the back door to be fed gracefully by a beautiful girl instead of the usual bucket of grain I would throw over their
fence. It took a while for Mary to understand the complexity of the different feeds, and daily bird proportions; but once I was sure she had a handle on it, she
improvised with old bread crumbs and had the birds eating right out of her hands. Kind of like what I understand Saint Francis would do, assuming he is the
designated saint of animals.
Like I said previously, critical thinking has never been much of a help to me in matters of the soul. All I know is on the dawn of my free mornings, when I
awaken to Mary’s “Saint Francis Baptismal” I have new insight, a spiritual awaking of a sort- something that gives me meaning and purpose. Why should I ask
Mary the meaning of her ritual and ruin a good thing?
The day I first met Mary, doing research on the Medina Dam reservoir, she suggested I stay at the Historic Landmark Inn in room number nine, so after a day
of research, I paid for a night’s lodging as the clerk explained that Mary had returned to San Antonio at the end of her shift. The clerk went on to explain,
Stephen F. Austin granted the farm land of the Medina Valley to Henri Castro for establishing a colony of Alsatian immigrants in Texas around 1842 and the
Landmark Inn was built around the early settlement carrying different names as owners over time.
My arms full of text books, I walked the rickety stairs to room number nine intent on continuing my studies but fell fast asleep the moment I laid down on the
soft antique brass bed. Around 1:00 am, my right eye opened to the door knob of my room turning; however the door was locked and I assumed it was just
another guest at the wrong door. I fell back to sleep to be awakened by pebbles hitting my up stairs antique plate glass window. Fully awake now, I got up to
look outside but saw nothing or no one in the well-lit yard grounds and went back to a sound sleep.
Once again, around 3:30 am, my right eye opened to the door knob of my room turning repeatedly and now a push against it each time. My first thought was
the inn was haunted but dismissed the thought, thinking another guest had too much to drink and was at the wrong door. Before I rose up to assist, the
turning stop and I heard footsteps walking away.
The next morning, I waited outside the Inn’s dining room reading as I waited for the other guest to wake for breakfast. Mary appeared and explained the food
was getting cold if I would like some breakfast. I explained that I was waiting for the other guest. To my surprise Mary said, “What guest?” This is a weekday,
usually full on weekends and I was the only person registered.
Mary must have noticed my eyes, and whispered as if reading my mind, “Did you see it?” “See what?” I responded. “The ghost” she explained. The moment
she said, “did you see it?” my mind’s eye opened to a visual of an elderly couple glistening transparent bodies or ghost like figures pushing on my door
seeking my help as if they were lost between two worlds, their memories of the living the realities of the dead. Mary must have noticed the remorseful feeling
of guilt on my face as I toyed with the idea that maybe I could of help them if I opened the door and offered some comfort but remained in bed.
A period of time had passed before my attention focused to the present moment, as I realized Mary was offering a silver serving tray of bite size cuts of exotic
cheese, crackers, chocolates, breakfast tarts, and local homemade Alsatian sausage, and she was asking for the third time with an escalating rise in her
voice, “Would you care for some cheese and crackers?” “Oh no, I’ll have something light. Do you have some cereal or juice?” I responded and acted as if I
was day dreaming or a little absent-minded, a habit I had obtained over the years when caught in the act of a shifting to another state of consciousness or a
transpersonal way of knowing.
People like me compensate in order to disguise talents that most would never understand to avoid appearing abnormal or making someone feel
uncomfortable about something that is natural to me but to some, beyond the limits of human reasoning. I quickly diverted her curiosity back to her, by asking
Mary to explain her belief in the ghost she revealed to me while I kept my secret of having a trans-personality in a closet in the furthest reaches of the back of
my mind.
Mary had seen ghosts at the Inn in the past. A ghost, if they do exist, is a phenomenon that seems to oppose the laws of physics or the natural order of
things; the sighting of a ghost would be something invisible to some or outside their peripheral perception but not for Mary and me. She talked of these
ghosts as if they were the souls of Texas pioneers that lived, worked, and died at the Inn centuries ago, some of which were caught between two worlds and
others that preferred to stay. I asked Mary, “If they were ghosts why didn’t they just walk through the walls instead of trying my door knob?” I answered my
own question by saying, “They can walk through walls but they cannot enter a locked room,” as if I knew what I was talking about which made little sense, but
kept the conversation going long enough for me to ask Mary to a movie. I didn’t get a “NO!” but did get a “maybe.”
Mary and I recognized we shared a lot of things in common such as our conversation about ghosts. When we talked about their souls we were speaking of
the essence of what makes us each a situated knower or the eyewitnesses of what we perceive. Perhaps getting a glimpse of this I-ness or eyewitness we
call soul while living or ghost after death of the body is phenomena beyond the scope of the way we understand physics or the natural order of things.
Perhaps we call the sighting of ghosts miracles, because it gives hope to overcome our grieving when someone we love passes and it strengthens a
conception that a God does exist that gives us purpose and meaning to live. After all, if souls exist, they must be something that dwells in the peripheral blind
spot of social invisibility if some claim to see them and others do not. Could it be that there is an everyday ordinary common god, outside of peripheral
perception as close as the invisible nose on your invisible face, working miracles in our lives?
So just maybe we do misrepresent the Saint Francis’ tradition as we do other customs, and think of the saint in just poetic terms; a good saint who cares for
animals. It just could be that Saint Francis has deeper symbolic meaning, something grand or more encompassing; something that bonds all living things
together. And just maybe we understand that deeper meaning as something that need not be questioned or thought about; an innate understanding that is
universal without cultural boundaries.
Before Mary and her belongings moved in with me, she asked what I believed in or did I have a spiritual tradition of my own. I explained I had a guiding star
that first appeared in my dreams when I was a young boy, a sort of guardian angel that I look to for guidance or a renewal of the soul. I was quick to point out
that my ritual of reverence was not of religious or of psychological importance but something dear and natural to me. She explained that she had similar
experiences and added, “Well it’s really all the same; we all pray to the same God.” I said nothing more about it, why should I and ruin a good thing?
One evening, while fast asleep, I shifted into a transpersonal state watching my body sleep and next to me Mary rose up from her sleeping body. She turns
and looks at me and said, “Oh, this is what you mean! I have been doing this since I can remember when I was a little girl.” I respond, “Yeah, this is it, nothing
complex or unnatural. Like I said before, I am not talking about anything new or some hocus-pocus psychic phenomenon, but I don’t know why I waste my
time, when you awake in the morning you will forget the whole thing.” “No I won’t,“ she said. “Yes you will, just like the others; you’ll forget.” “No I won’t, I’ll
show you,” she said. “Ok, but you will forget,” I said.
Seldom do I have such a willing transpersonal partner, so I thought about a way to prove it--a way to show Mary that she does have a higher consciousness
that is always awake and active, an innate universal knowing the Greeks coined the ‘logos’ or the known. So, I tell Mary, “Let’s check out the project in the
casting studio.” We had contracted with a small ceramic house in a town 60 miles from our home and my idea was to see if Mary could remember what we did
or at least what was viewed during our twilight travel.
Mary, thinking I was trying to prove that she would forget, sure of herself about something she had been doing nightly since she was a child, said “ok, let’s
go!” I could tell she was true to her word because she needed no instructions like the others, nor did she drift off into a dream as most do. Within a twinkle of
time, we were inside the ceramic studio behind locked doors viewing our project in-work. Of course our bodies still lay in the bed as our essence of souls
made a transpersonal shift to another place miles away. The term Transpersonal can best be defined as anything outside of yourself including yourself.
Next, we went our separate ways around the studio admiring the various work of the studio, while Mary was adventuring about for amusement; I was more
focused looking for something that she would not forget. I came upon the small project we had contracted weeks before and noticed that the original small
clay sculpture we contracted to reproduce a dozen ceramic replicas had cracked, or the front was shattered and taped together. This sometimes happens
during the process of making a mold of a clay model but Mary and I had no way to know where the broken sculpture was located in the shop or that the
sculpture was broken, nor did we know it was taped or how the sculpture was taped together, less the transpersonal shift, while at the same time we slept
soundly in our bedroom 60 miles away from the studio that we were now standing in.
The following day, I said nothing about the night’s events, and she suggested we go and see how our project was coming along at the ceramic shop. When
we arrived about noon, the shop was opened and we went in and walked directly to the project and she said, “It’s broken”. I said, “Yes, sometimes that
happens during the process but the replicas are just fine. Do you remember last night?” “No, What?” she responded.” “We were here last night as we slept
and dreamed.” “I remember something” she said as I said under my breath, “You forgot.”
Mary may have forgotten our transpersonal shift the night before, she did not forget her camera when we were physically there and once the photos were
developed revealed my guiding star inches from my head. The same guiding star that I described to Mary that first appeared in my dreams when I was a
young boy, a sort of guardian angel that I look to for guidance or a renewal of the soul, a rock hard idea such as Mary’s concrete statue of Saint Francis atop
our backyard birdbath. So, while I tried to prove something to Mary, Mary proved to me that there are things such as spirits or ghosts are natural events
outside of peripheral perception or beyond the limits of human reasoning that gives hope in times of despair or uncertainty.
Buddhist in South East China, particularly Thailand, erect small spirit houses, usually extended on a single pole about the size of a doll house to offer a
place for spirits of the dead and living to visit. While living on the Island of Koh Somui , Thailand, a young girl told me that they kept their own spirit house
extended way up high next to their bungalow stocked with gifts and food placed inside for passing souls or ancestors so they would not wake the household
going inside to freshen up from their twilight travels or perhaps looking for something to eat or drink. She also made of point of sometimes leaving notes on
paper requesting help with some matter or homemade gifts of thanks for assisting in a previous request or just a gift of love to those that had passed and
were dearly missed by the living.
Today, some indigenous tribes of the Amazon still practice the art of communicating and moving among the sprits in the night, just as Mary and I which
includes even the youngest of the household as they sleep together in shelters made of local weaved leaf walls, plank wood floor boards and large palm
leaves as the roof, four to six feet off the jungle floor supported by wood poles.
They talk of their experiences not only in the morning as if discussing a personal abstract dream but while they participate outside their own bodies and
testify to the occasional visitation of ancestors whose bodies have long passed just as a person of Catholic faith like Mary might say, “Saint Francis appeared
to me in a dream and something that troubled me the day before had been worked out so I need not worry anymore, because it is in God’s hands.”
Little did Mary and I know, that are loving relationship and simple life style would be interrupted by a corrupt political machine of republican ideologies that
had transformed Texas into a Police State and for the next three years our privacy and safety would be jeopardized by human behavioral experiments
outside of protocol and well outside terrorist threats that made us Targets of Domestic Surveillance. No longer would we enjoy the blessing of living outside
the realm of social recognition.
