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Willy Gommel
Edition of July 9, 2004

      So what am I up to? Well, at age 60, I was down to about 98kg; and 192 cm, down one since my earlier years. What do I look like? Well, look for yourself:

      So who am I? Essentially I'm a peaceful person more interested in the inward life than the outward one. To me, the outward life is a reflection of the inward one. Or should be. You know -- a tool, a way of expressing oneself. As I do things, as I provide myself with experiences and sense impressions, so I come to know myself better.
      My philosophy tends to cut pretty deep. I guess I could call it Transcendental Philosophy. I want to know the truth of things -- the whole truth, right down to the nitty-gritty, the center of Being. I do NOT limit my inquiries to the objects of the five senses, nor even particularly concentrate on those. I search wherever I find reason to search, wherever my nose finds the sweet smell of truth inviting me. Indeed, I tend to be far more concerned with BEing than with DOing. BEing is the centerpiece of my attention, my very existence; DOing is its tool, its manifestation, the "fruits by which ye know" me. I am a walking question mark with the letters W-H-Y written in front.
      So do I in fact have any hobbies? Well, occasionally, yes. The Temple of the People has provided me with an admirable spiritual home base and a good many avenues of expression, not to mention a lot of WONderful people with whom to rub shoulders while working in the vineyard, as it were. That keeps me pretty busy with typesetting, composition, leading a meeting now and then, speaking now and then, helping out here and there and elsewhere.
      When things slow down, and sometimes when they don't, I may write something such as a novel or a short story or an essay. Or I might get involved in programming, or merely playing, some MIDI music files. Or I may walk outside and water the garden, or pet the neighbor's cat. Or I may go to Tennessee or Wisconsin or northern or southern California to see my family or friends. Ah, the world is too full of things I would love to do, except for the severe limitation imposed by there being a mere 1,440 minutes in each day.

      Oh, yes: "My" boys. Currently there are two of them in various degrees of residency; check out my zoo page.

      Until May, 2002, I worked as THE office person in a small company which sold air cleaners. Historically, I seem to prefer low salaries and great employers (and that one so qualified, on both counts) to fat paychecks and gobs of office politics. Hey ... it paid my bills!
      At that time, due to Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (a neurological disease), I had to retire on disability. Down went the pay -- but, fortunately, thus far my bills are still paid. Just -- a little more barely. With any luck, they'll stay that way ...
      A human being is not a simple thing a fair understanding of which can be gained by snapshots taken with cameras or computer HTML editors. I surely am no exception. I spend too much time BEing myself to worry very much about what might interest you, the reader. Want to know more? Back right on out to my home page and use that e-mail link at its bottom, to ...
Ask! You'll find out.

Computers Today
(Well, actually in about 2000 ...)

"Boys never grow up. Their toys just get more expensive."

Consider the old technologies ...
      Are you old enough to remember the days when bills were sent with special punched cards (Hollerith) which were to be returned with payment on pain of death -- unstapled, unfolded, uncreased, unspindled, unmutilated, undamaged? Well, those cards had hundreds of uses other than as billing harassments.
      A Hollerith card can contain up to 80 characters, each of which is an 8-bit value (byte). A Hollerith card is about 8" x 3.5" in size. Hollerith cards come in boxes of 3,000, weighing about 15 pounds. That's about 240KB of data. Such a box, purchased today, might cost about $150.
      At home, I have a 10GB hard disk in Senior (my "bigger" computer). That's enough space to hold as much data as 125 MILLION Hollerith cards. And this HDD is by no means the largest available today -- for a reasonable price, even.
      125,000,000 Hollerith cards would require 41,667 boxes (more if the files are relatively small and a lot of the boxes are empty space). 41,667 boxes of Hollerith cards, at $150, would cost $6,250,000.
      They would form a stack 2.63 MILES tall (about 4.5 KM). Or you could lay them side by side, and they would require 5.6 miles of shelving. Or you could lay them end to end, and without interruption the line would extend out the warehouse door to an office building 10 miles away.
      They would weigh 312.5 TONS. That would require about 10 full-size tractor/trailer rigs to haul.
      My hard disk, on the other hand, weighs about 10 ounces (300g), and is 1" high by a bit less than 4" wide and about 7.5" deep (2.5 x 9.5 x 19 cm). It costs less than $150.
      Such is progress in the computer room.
      AND all that space is reusable indefinitely. And hard to fold, spindle, or mutilate.
      Later update: As of May, 2002, Senior has moved on to other pastures. Monster, its replacement, revises all those numbers upward by about six times. Egads!

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A Memo from God

From a Temple talk delivered (not by me) on my birthday in 2002.

Date: Eternity;
From: GOD;
To: My Children on Earth;
re: Idiotic religious rivalries;

My Dear Children (and believe me, that's all of you):

      I consider myself a pretty patient Guy. I mean, look at the Grand Canyon. It took millions of years to get it right. And how about evolution? Boy, nothing is slower than designing that whole Darwinian thing to take place, cell by cell and gene by gene. I've even been patient through your fashions, civilizations, wars and schemes, and the countless ways you take Me for granted until you get yourselves into big trouble again and again. I want to let you know about some things that are starting to tick me off.
      First of all, your religious rivalries are driving Me up a wall. Enough already! Let's get one thing straight: These are your religions, not Mine. I'm the Whole Enchilada; I'm beyond them all. Every one of your religions claims there's only one of Me (which, by the way, is absolutely true). But in the very next breath, each religion claims it's My favorite one. And each claims its bible was written personally by me, and that all the other bibles are man-made. Oh, Me. How do I even begin to put a stop to such complicated nonsense?
      Okay, listen up now: I'm your Father and Mother, and I don't play favorites among My Children. Also, I hate to break it to you, but I don't write. My longhand is awful, and I've always been more of a "doer" anyway. so all your books, including the bibles, were written by men and women. They were inspired, remarkable people, but they also made mistakes here and there. I made sure of that, so that you would never trust a written word more than your own living Heart.
      You see, one Human Being to me -- even a Bum on the street -- is worth more than all the holy books in the world. My spirit is not an historical thing. It's alive right here, right now, as fresh as your next breath.
      Holy books and religious rites are sacred and powerful, but not more so than the least of You. They were only meant to steer you in the right direction, not to keep you arguing with each other, and certainly not to keep you from trusting your own personal connection with Me.
      Which brings Me to My next point about your nonsense: You act like I need you and your religions to stick up for Me or "win souls" for My Sake. Please, don't do Me any favors. I can stand quite well on my own, thank you. I don't need you to defend Me, and I don't need constant credit. I just want you to be good to each other.
      And another thing: I don't get all worked up over money or politics, so stop dragging My name into your dramas. For example, I swear to Me that I never threatened Oral Roberts. I never rode in any Rajneesh's Rolls Royces, I never told Pat Robertson to run for president, and I've never ever had a conversation with Jim Bakker, Jerry Falwell, or Jimmy Swaggart.
      The thing is, I want you to stop thinking of religion as some sort of loyalty pledge to Me. The true purpose of your religions is so that you can become more aware of Me, not the other way around. Believe Me, I know you already. I know what's in each of your hearts, and I love you with no strings attached. Lighten up and enjoy Me. That's what religion is best for.
      What you seem to forget is how mysterious I Am. You look at the petty little differences in your scriptures and say, "Well, If this is the Truth, then that can't be!" But instead of trying to figure out My Paradoxes and Unfathomable Nature (which, by the way, you never will), why not open your hearts to the simple common threads in every religion?
      You know what I'm talking about: Love and respect everyone. Be kind. Even when life is scary or confusing, take courage and be of good cheer, for I Am always with you. Learn how to be quiet so you can hear My Still, Small Voice (I don't like to shout). Leave the world a better place by living your life with dignity and gracefulness, for you are my Own Child. Hold back nothing from life, for the parts of you that can die will surely die, and the parts that can't, won't. So don't worry, be happy (I stole that last line from Bobby McFerrin, but he stole it from Meher Baba in the first place).
      Simple stuff. Why do you keep making it so complicated? It's like you're always looking for an excuse to be upset. And I'm very tired of being your main excuse. Do you think I care whether you call be Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, Wakantonka, Brahma, Father, Mother or even The Void or Nirvana? Do you think I care which of My Special Children you feel closest to -- Jesus, Mary, Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed or any of the others? You can call Me and My Special Ones any name you choose, if only you would go about My business of loving one another as I love you. How can you keep neglecting something so simple?
      I'm not telling you to abandon your religions. Enjoy your religions, honor them, learn from them, just as you should enjoy, honor and learn from your parents. But do you walk around telling everyone that your parents are better than theirs? Your religion, like your parents, may always have the most special place in your heart: I don't mind that at all. And I don't want you to combine all the Great Traditions into One Big Mess. Each religion is unique for a reason. Each has a unique style so that people can find the best path for themselves.
      But My Special Children -- the ones your religions revolve around -- all get along perfectly, I assure you. The clergy must stop creating a myth of sibling rivalry where there is none.
      My Blessed Children of Earth, the world has grown too small for your pervasive religious bigotry and confusion. The whole planet is connected by air travel, satellite dishes, telephones, fax machines, rock concerts, diseases, and mutual needs and concerns. Get with the program! Commit yourselves to figuring out how to feed your hungry, clothe your naked, protect your abused, and shelter your poor. And just as important, make your own everyday life a shining example of kindness and good humor. I've given you all the resources you need, if only you abandon your fear of each other and begin living, loving, and laughing together.
      Finally, My Children everywhere, remember my son Jesus and the fearlessness with which He chose to live and die. As I love Him, so do I love each one of you. I'm not really ticked off: I just wanted to grab your attention because I hate to see you suffer. But I gave you Free Will, so what can I do now other than try to influence you through reason and persuasion? I really Am, indeed I swear, with you always. Always. Trust In Me. Your One and Only

----GOD