Kirjahaku

100 short essays by author Rodney Richards that offer personal and practical insights on solving world issues that divide us. Richards' shows ways to obtain unity of thought, will, and purpose that are critical to improving or rearranging the status quo. Excerpts from the Baha'i Writings on spirituality, mindfulness, reality, love, philosophy, and other subjects make the author's points. Essays have realistic and positive outlooks and should inspire many to action and personal transformation. Personal life-lessons show our common desire to persevere and thrive in the face of setbacks, all temporary Richards' proclaims, on the way to universal acceptance and cooperation at all levels of society.

What's it like being normal? Can you be normal and psychotic at the same time? Experience the rollercoaster ride that is Rodney's life from his days as a bipolar teenager leading to horrible behaviors, delusions of grandeur, hallucinations, dreams of future events, visions, and cold apathy for the ones who love him. Yet, there is is something, something good in him, almost saintly at times, that others like his longsuffering wife, employers, friends, and family find hidden beneath his nonchalance. He can be a good husband and father, a great employee, devoted believer, and wise community volunteer despite manic highs and nasty depressions that deposit him behind jail bars or in clinics, in a straightjacket, or trying to jump out of a plane at 30,000 feet.Rodney's private rollercoaster, the Fates, will fly you 3,000 miles to a Californian military funeral that changes his life, then 5,000 miles to the Mountain of the Lord in the Mideast where he expects to be anointed king. His invention and Corporation will change the world, he thinks. They can't miss. Acting on his wild and crazy impulses, he believes he can swim the Atlantic Ocean to reach his ultimate goal. Public nudity or trying to climb stairs to St. Peter's Basilica dome, his thoughts seem rational.And he has a Mission: to create a peaceful, cooperative civilization, with plenty for all. Will he succeed?