How many people, in our secular world of today, can honestly and
truthfully answer, "Yes!" to all those questions? Very few, actually. And
the sadness and tragedy of the situation is doubly compounded because we all
DO KNOW WHY, in our consciousness (which is where our "knowing", i.e. our
Soul, resides), we are in the situation that we are! We DO KNOW that we
have, and are, COMPROMISING ourselves, every day, as to who and what we are,
AND as to who and what WE MIGHT BE! We are compromising not only our
integrity, but our Trust, our Truthfulness, and our very BEING, when we
accede, and "give in", to the "requirements" - the societally and
other-than-ourselves imposed "requirements" OF LIFE, that are NOT the
REALITY (or realities) of Life, but are merely the impositions of someone,
other than ourselves, telling us what to do! That "pseudo-reality", which
any and all who have "vested interests" IN what is "told" to us, and what we
are expected to "believe in" (HEY, What? "Beliefs" again? Yep! In this case,
it's all kinds of "beliefs", including economic, money-related "beliefs",
and so much more, that all contribute to "running" one's Life!), and then,
consequently, act upon. . . is merely the methodology of the
"slave-masters", who would have us "believe" in what they have conjured up,
that does surely benefit them, in the results of OUR actions, words and
deeds, but certainly NOT unto US (we are NOT "responsible" - remember?)! I am reminded of the vintage folk song, "Sixteen Tons", which was
originally a Merle Travis composition, but then, I think, went on to become
a Tennessee Ernie Ford "standard". Is it too much to say that, as many times
IS the case in musical pieces and lyrics, the words can be more powerful
than the piece itself, as to the "truths" expressed, the "knowing" implied,
and the hopes asked for? Remember the words, to "Sixteen Tons"... "Some
people say a man's a-made out-a mud, but a poor man's made out-a muscle and
blood - muscle and blood, skin and bones, a mind that is weak and a back
that is strong! I loaded sixteen tons, of Number 9 coal, and what do I get -
another day older, and deeper in debt!!! Saint Peter, don't you call me,
'cause I can't go, I owe my soul to the Company Store!" Hey! Is THAT not the
truth, of ALL of us? As one of my homeless compadres has put it (in the
Individual Comments by the Homeless pages of this Website), "It is
PROSTITUTION! Pure and Simple!" When one "sells" one's Soul, besides "paying
tribute" to Lucifer (as the "big boss" of this world), one is certainly
COMPROMISING oneself! When you are "taking orders/instructions/whatever"
FROM SOMEONE ELSE, neither you NOR anyone else (much less the person telling
you what to do), ARE IN CHARGE of yourself, your Life! And the same thing
applies to those who "sell" their Soul, in the form of one's resources,
assets, abilities and anything else that is EXCLUSIVELY YOU (or yours), and
which does constitute, or determine, who and what you are! (Okay, I'm being
a bit broad and generous here. Most folks would consider the "who and what"
of a person to be exclusively those "inner" things, of integrity and so
forth, and NOT "external" acquisitions and such. BUT, in the sense that, AT
SUCH A TIME as one may exist "in" at the present moment - i.e. your
individual "level" of human evolutionary development - UNTIL one does "know"
oneself more fully and completely, such "externals" certainly can, and DO,
also constitute the "who and what" of a person.) Whether it is "selling" your Soul in a "job", or renting out something of
yours that is "dear and precious" (in other words, it is a "part" of you),
OR any other means, IF the medium of exchange is MONEY... Well, as my friend
says, it is "prostitution", pure and simple. And you are no longer in
charge, in control, of your life, or whatever you have "sold", or "let". And
when you have the IRS, the government, all kinds of agencies (SEC, DMV, ICC,
FCC, PacBell, PG&E and what have you?), and everyone's brother, with
their "hand in your pocket", exerting some degree of financial "take",
regulation, law and control... HOW can you say, even if one is a "landlord",
that one is "in control" of one's life? NO WAY, Jose! Okay, since this Sermon is about "taking back one's life" - in other
words, one's FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE and INTEGRITY, to be the "who and what"
that one was born to be, as a free, independent AND UNIQUE individual human
being, let's get past the "problem" pretty quick, 'cause we all know what
the problem is - it is MONEY, and the financial system of this world, that
does present the "resistance", the barriers, to one's "being" who and what
one might "be" (Oh, if it just wasn't for this or that, and the funds/money
that are necessary... Why, everything would be alright, and we'd have
everything we "need"! YEAH, SURE - if you're that zillionaire, sure you can
afford to send your kid to college. BUT, what about everyone else?) Okay, we
know what the problem is. (And EVERYBODY knows, so no one is "kidding"
anyone, unless it is oneself!) BUT, how is the money/financial "problem" to
be resolved? THE ONLY WAY POSSIBLE - BY ALL OF US! And since I have already
noted, and written about, "participatory democracy", and all of humanity
working together PEACEFULLY to "change the system" elsewhere in these pages,
I'm NOT going to belabor the "money problem" any further here. BUT, since I AM talking about a person taking "ACTION" (ACTIVISM,
especially spiritual activism - see the definition of "activism" in your
dictionary, the section defining activism OTHER THAN political!), in
"reclaiming" their Life, their control, their destiny - after all, remember,
what man has "created", he/she can surely "RE-create", to be better than it
is - and since we all KNOW that it will take concerted, cooperative (NOT
"competitive"), universal "action", BY ALL OF HUMANITY - let's close this
Sermon with a bit of inspiration, to enable us all to DO that which needs to
be done, in "actualizing" that PEACE, FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE and WORLD
DEMOCRACY that we all seek! When I was on my 5 year "sojourn", back in the OA/OWB, teaching at the
Freedom, Independence and World Democracy Institute, I remember that the
hallways of most of the Institute's facilities were "enshrined" with the
words, expressions, sayings, principles and truths (over the aeons of human
existence), of the very concepts of human freedom, independence and
participatory world democracy. Let me just pass on here a few of those
"truisms" that were emblazoned upon those walls (I will go into such more
fully in a further Sermon or piece, and I do so already in my book, "KNOWING:
The Quantum Physics of Consciousness, Life and Reality!"):
Also, as a further contribution to the inspiration of you good folks,
toward "reclaiming" your lives, freedom, independence and individuality, IN
a participatory world democracy, I am going to review a goodly number of
pieces/lyrics, that have already been immortalized in secular songs, and
which were dedicated to the very principles of freedom, etc. that we do so
ernestly seek. (Remember, earlier I said that WORDS can be most powerful -
in expressing the hopes, the dreams, the truths, and the "knowing", of those
people, OF WHATEVER TIME AND PLACE, who are seeking freedom, peace,
equality, democracy, or whatever else was necessary, at the time that such a
song was written.) But first, let me put forth the WORDS of the Credo of the IEA (the
International Entrepreneurs Association), of which I was once a Member
myself, and which do certainly apply to the homeless, as well as anyone
else, in addition to "entrepreneurs":
(Thanks to
"Pegs" for the inspiration for this Sermon. May you "take back" your life!
Best Wishes, Jerome.)
Are you "in control" of your Life? Do you "own" yourself, as to
who and what you are, and what you can do and say? Do you even "know" WHO
you ARE? And WHAT you ARE? Are you the free, independent and unique
individual whom you were born to be?
NO rent payments
NO
home ownership
NO car/vehicle ownership
NO financial assets
NO
financial liabilities/obligations
NO financial net worth
NO property
taxes
NO income taxes
NO IRS!
NO sales taxes
NO purchasing
ANYTHING!
NO income/NO money/NO need for such
NO shopping for food
(given/delivered FREE!)
NO buying newspapers/books/magazines (all
FREE!)
NO utility bills (all such provided FREE!)
NO cost of public
transportation (ALL air/land/sea transportation is FREE!)
NO
employer/boss/supervisor (each person is self-employed, providing their
abilities/talents/services FREELY to others, as needed, with NO PAYMENT or
any form of compensation from/to ANYONE!)
NO restriction of actions or
movements
NO dependency on, or intrusion by, governmental agencies
NO
dependency on governmental welfare
NO dependency on government!
NO
THIRD-PARTY agencies (government, money or representatives in ANY
form!)
TOTAL DIRECT INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY ACTIONS TO EVERYONE
ELSE! In other words, PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY!!!
"I do not choose to be a common man.
It
is my right to be uncommon... if I can.
I seek opportunity... not
security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled
and dulled by
having the state look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk;
to
dream and to build,
to fail and to succeed.
I refuse to barter
incentive for a dole;
I prefer the challenges of life
to the
guaranteed existence;
the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of
Utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence
nor my dignity for a
handout.
I will never cower before any master
nor bend to any
threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect,
proud and unafraid; to think
and act for myself,
to enjoy the benefit of my creations
and to face
the world boldly and say:
This, with God's help, I have done.
All this
is what it means to be an Entrepreneur."
Click here for the Continuation of this Sermon!
