Time: Fri Nov 01 07:35:12 1996 To: marmstrong <marmstrong@snowcrest.net> From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: affection and grace Cc: Bcc: At 01:21 AM 11/1/96 -0800, you wrote: >At 05:40 AM 10/31/96 -0700, you wrote: >>At 12:51 AM 10/31/96 -0800, you wrote: >>>At 12:27 PM 10/30/96 -0700, you wrote: >Hi Paul, >>>>Hi Marcia, >>>> >Re: >>>>"The Friendship Factor," by Alan Loy >>>>McGinnis, Augsburg Publishing House, >>>>Minneapolis (1979). > >It wasn't listed as a local book. Will try to special >order through library system. You will just love it. It is a book for all ages. Some day I will write a book like this, one which can bring joy to the lives of millions, if not billions. /s/ Paul Mitchell > >(snipped) > >>>Be well, my friend. Let us >>>>begin by seeing ourselves as little miracles >>>>of life, which daily grow up into big miracles >>>>we share with everyone willing to receive us, >>>>in the image and likeness of the One who >>>>created us. From the Mind of the Maker >>>>we came; evidence of the supernatural >>>>surrounds us: we are that evidence. >>> >>From some of the things you've said, I am picking >up on some indications that you may have some >facility for ESP, telepathy or projected travel. >(Not sure the right name for this.) No one has ever said this to me. I rather regard it as an over-developed cranium, because my childhood was so lonely; I would retreat into my mind, where there were always lots of things to do. I discovered binary arithmetic on my own, when I was 7. When bored, I would see how high I could carry the series 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 ... I got pretty good at it. I took to computers like a duck to water. /s/ Paul Mitchell > >>>Have you read Brennan Manning's "The Ragamuffin >>>Gospel" Multnomah Press c1990? It is one of my >>>favorites. > >It is all about the Christian concept of Grace. Ah, yes, the presence of the supernatural. The Kingdom of Heaven is within Us. From a psychologist's point of view, I translate that to mean that we can learn to project good, and actually materialize it in the tangible world, as a result of our thoughts. Smiling is a simple example of that; it has a very powerful influence on people. >(I was raised a Presbyterian by a Congregationalist >and an Episcopalian, but Grace was the "hook" that >gave me a "personal Savior" as an adult living in >a mini-Bible belt. He was a real Man, and He did have an immense impact on other humans. I like to tell the story of Mary Magdalene. Would you like to hear me tell that story? (My church is Evangelical. Don't >accept many of the fundamentalist teachings, but love >my Pastor. He and his wife give me hugs.) I hope I can give you hugs some day too. You do deserve them so very much, for your dedication to truth. You are surely on the path, and your reward shall be great. Just give yourself permission to believe it, and you will be filled with immense joy. Try it! "I am on the path of truth, and my reward will be great for it," says Mar to herself in the mirror, with the greatest of convictions. There ... done. /s/ Paul Mitchell > > >>> >>>>/s/ Paul Mitchell >> >>>>=========================================================== >>>>Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S.: pmitch@primenet.com >>>>ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776, Tucson, Arizona state >>>>=========================================================== >>>> >(snipped) >> >>Our Creator is terrific >>at forwarding thoughts >>of good will, no matter >>how distant we are in space, >>so touching is a thought >>pattern, a pattern of >>thinking before doing. >>The smallest gesture can >>convey a huge amount of love. > >This reminds me of the reality >constructs of DePak Choppra (sp?.) Deepak Chopra, yes! >> >>>Being thoughtful, like bringing someone a cup of >>> coffee when you're getting one for yourself >> >>I am bad about this one, >>because I get so task-focused, >>I forget the immediate milieu >> >I also get task oriented. Tend to spill coffee >on myself occassionally or forget where I put >things down. (I once put Jon's shoes in the >refrigerator when he was younger.) Getting him ready for winter, no doubt. What did he say when he found them there? > >>>Suggesting a dinner out when the cook is tired >> >>I LOVE to eat out, I think, >>because I love to be waited >>on in restaurants. I just >>eat alone a lot these days. > >I get to eat out only at luncheon or >dinner meetings, which are rare. (Can't >afford it.) We have an excellent Thai/Laotian >restaurant "nearby." I love Senthong's cooking, >expecially sticky rice and spicy shrimp. (I am >a born and bred seafood lover.) Are there fish to be fried from that river you steward so meticulously? > >>The word on the street now >>is that I am a deep cover >>government agent: very vicious >>lie, this one. > >Maybe I am niave, but it doesn't matter >to me if you were. (More in letter sent.) >I am distantly related to Samuel Adams and >outspokeness must be a family trait. I just love it when people are direct, even with bad news. It is impossible to be direct and lie at the same time, I believe. > >>Smiling, particularly, >>and humor, the best >>medicine ever. > >One cannot parent without a sense of humor. >The first thing one learns is not to depend >on having your material possessions survive >childhood. Does this include furniture, walls, ceilings, and ceiling lamps? Then as a parent of a teenager, you >learn how to use humor to back out of >confrontational places you do not want to revisit. This is the thing I do not understand about teenagers. My teenage years were spent in strict obedience to a very elaborate moral and ethical code: 5 1/2 years in a Catholic seminary. I was bounced for questioning authority. Then, when I transferred to UCLA, Martin Luther King was shot my first day on campus. I began to oppose the Vietnam war (Tet Offensive in Spring of 1968). Then, Robert Kennedy was killed. In the space of 9 months, I lost my vocation, I lost a girlfriend whom I had met while I was in the seminary, and I lost my family, who disowned me for opposing the war. It was devastating. I began a very long but steady descent into self-abuse and corruption. When I bottomed out, my face was in the mud and almost all of my neighbors were either laughing or spitting. Very few had bothered to read the book, so they only saw the outside struggle. Something very formative was building on the inside, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, I believe. The Son of God has redeemed me; I am not responsible for any of the work I do now, because I would not be here if it were not for that redemption. I was headed to the Golden Gate Bridge for a very long leap. Grace keeps me alive, from moment to moment. My next big test is faith. More on that later. /s/ Paul Mitchell >> >>>Affection initiated without prompting >> >Brennan Manning is great on "unconditional love." >I never could accept Christianity on an >intellectual level. However, in my life it >became *absolutely essential* to accept in >Christ that my maker's love of me was >both personal and unconditional. > >It does not always translate into parenting. >Children need some behavioral expectations. The >trick is to front-load them with a sense of ethics, >self responsibility and honor before their teen-age >years. Let them make (small) mistakes to get the hang >of it. They have mature in self-directioned and >balanced self-esteem. > >I am very lucky that both my children have >managed to grow into fine people, and that the >school has given them additional skills to >negotiate through the pitfalls of life. Then you have done your job well, as always. They will respect you greatly for you, as they grow up and learn to appreciate the differences between you and other parents they meet. > >>> >>>OH well, Ima goner......it was Dick Army, she >>>mumbled as she drifted off.............. >> >>You might probe your fantasy >>a little bit. We can do that >>here, where it's safe. > >Oh no. Dick Army is a *man.* One only fantasizes >about *guys*. (As my daughter said about a >coversation she and her roomate had after >experiencing college social life for the first >two weeks; "Amy and I have talked and decided that >we are not yet ready to date guys with facial hair." > >It must have something to do with the intrinsic >father/daughter taboo. Dick Army does not seem >"approachable" on that level - way too ponderous >and seriously into power. ... maybe the wrong kind of power too? Are you fantasizing a perfect archetype in Armey? > >Liam Neeson (Rob Roy Schindlers List) also is >not fantasizable. He is too intense. I get the >impression that if he turned his lovelights on you, >you would be in for a long and serious relationship >with great depths of passionate sincerity. You'd >want to "be there" soaking up all the real experience >and not off fantasizing. How do these differ for you? Can you give concrete examples from your own experience? > >>I have a robot persona you >>might like to meet. He errs >>all the time with strange >>English idioms, so he is >>very lovable, and very bright. >>He talks like a child with an >>IQ of 200. Do you want to >>share your fantasy with him? >>His name is I Pobot I (1001 >>for short). > >Yes, no, no, yes ? :-) 1 0 0 1 8-] commence translation program now: 1001 = I Pobot, I here, explanetizing abbreviation from I pObOt I. Are you copying phonetic transliterations empirically via my remote retina imaging devices? Helping now: "Pobot, I" is Pobot the First, a Robot with one-leg still standing. Do you copy? 10-4 0010101000101001100100111010010100100 ahhhhhhhh (binary addictions are wonderful, yes) > >>Bye. >> >>/s/ Paul Mitchell >> >>copy: I Pobot, I >>(Robot the First, >> with one leg-standing) >> >> >>> >Marcia >> >>=========================================================== >>Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S.: pmitch@primenet.com >>ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776, Tucson, Arizona state >>=========================================================== >> >> >> > >
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