The Man in the Desert

PREFACE This work on the salvation of the real person, the inner person, the soul, is the true story of three men, each in his own desert, solitary, individual, which each must be, whether he is one of a starving multitude in Africa or a participant in the so-called fruits of the affluent in America. We each have our own walk through our earth-life no matter how short or how long. Each is an individual and, in a sense, alone in our decisions and reactions to life's challenges, though along the way we may be influenced by others, as we are all alone and apart from other earth-bound mortals when we have breathed our last and depart for, what most truly consider, the vast unknown. We will attempt here to make that unknown known so the reader will see departing the earth-life as a simple transition to a better life, the life for which he was created. The reader will see the true importance of the earth-life as a preparation for that to come. Each individual consists of the inner person, the real person, often masked from others, and the outer person which we display to others. We may not know the inner person as well as we think. For example we may believe the inner person is a monster, particularly if we are trapped in addiction where we have lost the ability to make certain decisions, important decisions, life-affecting decisions. We may better know the outer person, the one we pretend to be, the one we would like to be while our view of the inner person may be impeded by guilt or an unwillingness to face the truth. My perception may be clouded. In fact, anyone trapped in addiction or habitual sin cannot fully see the truth. This opens a potential paradox where Jesus told us we would know the truth and the truth would set us free; but he also said the people he was instructing had eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear. So how can we see and know the truth and become free if we can't see or hear the truth? This very important question is answered in the following pages. Any person who believes he is a monster is buying a lie. No matter how gross the behavior, the real person cannot be other than a beautiful, unique masterpiece from the Master Creator. Freedom from this clouded, perverted vision is available to every person, freedom to see with the eyes of Jesus, to know his peace, his joy, his harmony with all of creation. The way to this freedom is presented for all to use within these pages. For the purpose of our presentation, the word addiction will refer to anything which has control over us and over which we have little or no control. In addition to the obvious this would include anger, judgmentalism, unforgiveness, arrogance, self-centeredness, anything in the realm of harmful, controlling obsession which is opposed to unselfish love. Please also be aware, though the writer is a man and reports on his personal experience with one addiction more prevalent with men than women, most of what is said pertains to all addictions, harmful obsessions, and habitual sin. Since we are here defining terms, any reference to sin will point to that which is out of harmony with God, who is love, and His immutalbe laws. The term God will refer to the Creator of the universe and all in it with the exception of that created by man. God, Creator, Almighty, and Father refer to the same Being. He could equally be referred to as Mother; but, since we are writing from a male perspective, please forgive the excessive use of that gender in this work. It is our prayer that women will find here material useful for overcoming their own challenges in life as well as information helpful to the men they love.