Beyond Certainty

About the Book

ABOUT THE BOOK, BEYOND CERTAINTY

Certainty is a disaster. Superficially it is responsible for much of our personal displeasures, and profoundly it is the cause of political unrest and religious pandemonium. What if we could dismiss certainty?

What if tyrannical gods could be understood as loving collaborators? What if Jesus could be freed of rigid law and be restored to his manhood and walk among us in familiarity and genuine camaraderie? What if atheists could be helpful guides instead of badgerers and bullies? What if words could be, not menaces and drudges, but words accommodating awareness? What if love could be distributed among us as an embraceable, respectable part of life, instead of being abstracted beyond human capability? (See my chapter for lyric proof of that.) What if intelligence, now allied to science and technology in certainty  and  prejudice,  could foster the roles of emotion, passion, and love? What if churches, now being reproached for their supernatural status, could be seen as the workshops of god's history and could be respected for their community with us? What if fundamentalists could discover that their god could better serve our present lives rather than mete out revengeful afterlives? Beyond certainty much good is possible.

About the Author

Credentials of Charles S. Whistler, writer

Is it credentials enough to say I have been writing steadily most of a long life, revising, reading, being work shopped, being judged by qualified judges, and appearing mostly in local publications?  Mostly in Florida where I moved for romance, and discovered the moon.    Is it credentials enough to say that I’ve always endeavored to raise the quality of my work through serious reading, industry, and let me hope, inspiration?  Obviously commercial and scholastic success are the standard, obvious proofs, but I am at least hopeful that these are not the only guarantee of relevance and worth.

I began writing seriously when zen and haiku poetry showed me how life and art could blend simply.  I tend to write short nature poems, and ideas of an aphoristic nature.  This manuscript exhibits both of those aspects.  My “philosophy” may be summed up as follows:

            Inspiration is a leaf

            Beautiful in drift--

            But like the arctic tern

            Flying from pole to pole

            Ever vigil and without rest

            Inspiration must be sustained

            By direction and dedication--

An author’s credentials are his readership base.  It matters not how long he’s been writing, or what his academic rank is.  This book is my attempt to prove that a small part of my writing can stand on its own.  My credentials, my reputation obviously are not mine to decide.  They are the reader’s decision.