Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Nancy's 87th/Slipping into KNOWING CHRIST
11/18/2019
Hello, Everyone!
Yup, I'm beginning to Celebrate Nancy's Friday Birthday on Monday!
On Friday, the 22nd, her actual birthday,
some friends of Nancy and I are going to go to a movie early on -
one called A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD -
and later we will dine at about 2 or 3 at the RIB & CHOP restaurant here in Laramie.
Anyone is welcome to join us who wants.
Nancy will be turning 87 on Friday.
I want to honor her with a gift of one my latest books - KNOWING CHRIST.
Why? Because if Nancy, my Lovely Companion, had not insisted on my doing so,
KNOWING CHRIST and all the other books I am publishing now -
mostly from old writings I have written long ago -
would still be restricted to cyber space, so to speak.
In 2013, some friends of mine, Crile and Laora,
helped me establish a writings website - www.una-bella-vita.com.
I would have been happy to contain all my writings there,
but Nancy asked that we consider publishing in hard back form
so she could read from her lap, as she offered.
So we started with one called WILD FLOWERS
and expected to leave it at that. WILD FLOWERS was expected to be
all there was in hard back form, but soon, we decided to add a
2nd, then a 3rd, then a 4th, then a 5th, then a 6th, then a 7th, then an 8th.
That 8th one was really supposed to end it, but as fate would have it,
Nancy's son-in-law, Frank, committed suicide on May 17th.
That brought to mind an essay on living after death that I had written in 2011.
It is called STILL ALIVE. But where STILL ALIVE was hidden,
lots of other works of mine we had not put to print came to mind -
and we decided that maybe we ought to include STILL ALIVE and lots of
other submerged writings of the past into one more book.
The trouble is, there were too many past works for just one more book.
So, we decided on two final books - one called KNOWING CHRIST
and a final one I am calling TRUE CHRISTIANITY.
The story is, however, that none of it would have been forthcoming
if Dear Nancy had not encouraged it.
So with Nancy's 87th birthday on the 22nd,
I am going to share a bit from book # 9 - KNOWING CHRIST.
The article I am sharing below is simply the last one
I was reading this morning. I am reading my own book -
now that it is finished - just for the heck of it, so to speak.
Who knows where it will go, but at least we are making it
and a lot of other books (from the past) available to the public.
I am enlisting a promotion company called PMSL to help me
promote these works, but only time will tell if those works amount
to anything - public wise. We'll see. If interested,
just go to Amazon and insert Francis Bessler in the search bar
and you can see what we have done. OK?
Have a Good One, Everyone! Thanks for Listening!
Gently,
Francis William Bessler
& Wife and Companion, Nancy Shaw.
KNOWING
CHRIST
By
Francis William Bessler
Compiled in 2019
Consisting of past works
From 1983 to 2011
Featuring
Original essays & songs
mostly
Divine Naturist Christian
oriented.
LIFE IS A GIFT –
NOT A LOAN
By
Francis William Bessler
June 12th, 2011
I am a firm believer than I am a soul that is being privileged to have a body. My body is not me. My soul is me. My body, however, I see as a gift to my soul. I see my body as “being given” to my soul – not loaned to my soul. In that light, I see my life itself as a gift and not a loan. I guess I see my body & soul as a unit – even though I see my body as being possessed by my soul. In a way, I see my body as an “extension” of my soul in that I can do for my soul by treating my body.
What I do for my body, I am simply doing for my soul. It is why I take such pride in embracing my nakedness. Without a shameless embrace of my body as it is – by itself – my soul cannot tell my body with any authenticity at all – Thanks for the Gift!
I think it is really good to take some time and ponder the matter. I don’t think that many do. I don’t think that many take time out of their day to ponder their soul – or their body. Most of us simply take our body for granted, paying no attention to them except maybe to complain about them or use them as tools to get something done in life. I don’t think it is very wise to see my body only as a tool that can be used to get something done. I think it is much wiser for me to see my body as a gift that my soul can experience – simply by being what it is.
How many that you know see things that way? How many that you know are more for being than for doing? I will admit, however, that if I do not watch it, I can track that way too. I can look at my body only for what it can do for me – rather than simply accept my body to be what it is – and enjoy the ride.
The way I see it – or try to see it – is first, be aware I am a soul – and then second, be aware that I am soul with a body. As a soul with a body, I see myself as having a huge responsibility to take care of my body because it belongs to my soul. I want to be a wise steward, as it were, of my life and always be as gracious to my host, my body, as I can. To do less, I think, is to be an ungrateful guest of my body. My body is my host – not the other way around. I – that is me as soul – am the guest; and what proper guest will dishonor his host?
Perhaps it is a lot like visiting a friend who is having you over to dinner. You might be licking your chops for prime rib, but your host serves you bacon & eggs. How polite is it to tell your friend and host that you are disappointed he is not serving you prime rib? As a polite guest, you gratefully sit down at your friend’s table – and not only feast on his offering of bacon & eggs, but you take special delight in enjoying the meal.
That is the way of a polite guest. Right? You accept what you are served and tell your host thank you. I see my soul and body in the same light. My body may be serving me bacon & eggs when I hoped for prime rib, but it is not for my soul to act disgracefully and refuse what it is offered.
You see, the truth of the matter is that whatever meal I am offered by my friend, that meal is pure bonus. I do not deserve any meal at all at his or her table. It is all gratis. Is it not? And that is how I see Life in General. It is all Gratis. My soul deserves none of it – and should be grateful for whatever it is served.
Notice that I called my soul an “it”. My particular body is masculine, but I see my soul as being neither masculine nor feminine. My soul is simply an “it”. Maybe this time around, my “it” soul has been “invited” into a masculine body; but maybe next life “it” will be “invited” into a feminine body. That just goes to show me – as a soul – that gender does not really matter a whit. I – that is, my body – may be male or female – but such detail is only for delight, not for concern or use as a tool.
It is the times that I do not think of my body being a host to my soul that I experience some difficulty in life. I think it is really good – if not essential – to be aware that each of us is really two, not one. Each of us is a soul with a body, but it is much like each of us is two in one. It’s like my soul is the twin of my body because the way I treat my body is what I do to my soul. In a way, since my body and soul are really two, it is like they are two persons that are – or should be – more like twins than anything else.
Ideally, I think, that is what a soul and a body should be – twins. When my soul looks at my body, it should see a friend and not an enemy. When my body looks at my soul, it should know that a true Brother (or Sister) has hitched a ride.
But how many body and soul combinations are like that? How many souls go through life and pay no attention to their body hosts? How many souls hitch a ride with a body and act like they have been hijacked rather given a home? How many souls take time to tell their body that they are really appreciated? How many souls look at their body host – or host body – and complain?
To that last notion, I will admit some guilt. At times I will look at my body and complain about one feature or another. In wanting prime rib instead of bacon & eggs, sometimes I do tend to not see the forest for all the trees in it. I look at my belly – which is a bit rotund at this time in my life at nearly the age of 70 – and wish it were not so; but if I am wise, I will not linger on my little dissatisfaction. Instead, I will turn it around and tell my body host that I am truly glad it is a bit rotund. That is just not to offend my host. A wise person is always aware that their soul is a guest of a body; and no proper guest goes about complaining about being served bacon & eggs even though a preference would be prime rib.
I try to take a great deal of delight in my body because it is just not wise or proper to do otherwise. My soul has this wonderful gift – this fantastic twin. It is not for me to slap my host in the face and concentrate on some regret. It is only for me to tell my dear, dear host of a body that I am so appreciative of it – be it masculine or feminine – and that I am so grateful for the gift.
Some think of their body as being some kind of loan. I do not. I see only gratuity. I see my soul as being a generous gift to my body and I see my body as being a generous gift to my soul. Neither owes to the other, but each deserves gratitude & respect; and that is how I see Life in General too.
God gives existence and existence gives life. There is no loan to it. God does not expect something in return for the gift because God gives freely; and as God and Nature & Life give freely – without expectation of return – except for a great big Thank You – that is how I should conduct my life as well.
Life Is A Gift
A song of life
by
Francis William Bessler
Written June 9th, 2011
Note: I wrote the Refrain and first two verses of this walking to Burger King in Laramie, Wyoming. While at Burger King, I encountered a young mother holding a bundle in her arms. In that bundle was a 1 month old baby named Victoria. After looking at Victoria, I proceeded to my booth and wrote the third verse. So, let me dedicate this song to
Little Vickie
and all the mothers & babies in the world.
Refrain:
Life is a gift, My Friend.
There’s no need to moan.
At least in my opinion, that is so.
I like to treat my wonderful body
that my soul does own
like it’s a gift from God & Love –
and not a loan.
Who should treat a gift
like they are (they’re) ashamed of it?
Who should treat a gift
like it is full of sin?
Who should treat a gift
like it’s a bomb in disguise?
Let’s all celebrate our lives
by praising them with delight. Refrain.
I wonder why it is
we’ve seen life as wrong
when it should be so clear
to any singing this song
that life has always been
right for animals & plants.
So, Let us humans follow
that same worthy path. Refrain.
I didn’t make my life
and neither, Friend, did you.
Just think back to your birth
and you can know the truth.
All life comes from another
and that makes all life a gift.
So, let us all be thankful
as we live and let live.
Refrain (several times).