Here I Am: the Sojourner's bible

Hardcover 316 Pages
A transformative look at human existence

Wisdom Literature

Reframe your understanding of existence today.

Philosophical Insights

Discover profound truths about our journey.

Temporary Travelers

Embrace our fleeting experiences with wisdom.

I am finding myself underlining lots in your book. I am reading it slowly...love so many of the concepts...This is so good!!! I can't wait to read more...

R.S.

★★★★★

A path toward authentic living in the face of life's fundamental uncertainties

Here I Am: The Sojourner's Bible is a collection of philosophical wisdom literature that reframes the human experience through the transformative lens of understanding ourselves as temporary travelers rather than permanent residents. Born from the author's near-death experience and subsequent reexamination of a lifetime of contemplative writing, this work offers a refreshing alternative to both transactional modern religion and the hedonistic fatalism that has emerged in our post-pandemic world.

The book consists of interconnected volumes that examine fundamental aspects of human existence: our relationship to suffering, control, mortality, meaning, and transcendence. Rather than offering easy answers or false comfort, Here I Am confronts the realities of evil, mystery, and limitation while arriving at a freeing, perspective-altering conclusion about how to live authentically as sojourners.

Central to the work is the recognition that we are neither gods nor owners of our experience, but temporary stewards passing through a reality we didn't create and cannot ultimately control. This shift in perspective transforms everything from how we approach daily decisions to how we face ultimate questions of purpose and mortality.

Here I Am serves as an antidote to the dangerous final stages of relativism while avoiding the pitfalls of rigid fundamentalism. It speaks to anyone grappling with meaning in an uncertain world, offering wisdom that is both deeply spiritual and refreshingly practical. The work examines life's realities—mystery, control, evil, and grace—with unflinching honesty while pointing toward a way of being that is both grounded and transcendent.

This is wisdom literature for our time: ancient truths filtered through contemporary understanding, offering readers a path toward authentic living in the face of life's fundamental uncertainties.

Excerpt from -
the Book of Expectations

1 Think about the path we walk through this world, and the expectations that grow in our hearts about goodness, kindness, and right actions.

2 Many people go through life believing their good deeds should be rewarded, their kindness should be repaid, and their sacrifices should be honored and remembered.

3 They give expecting something in return, help expecting gratitude, and sacrifice hoping for recognition. When these expectations aren't met, bitterness grows in their hearts.

4 But look at the trees in the field, which give shade to everyone who passes under them without asking who deserves it. Look at the rain, which falls on the fields of both thankful and unthankful farmers.

5 Does the sun demand thanks for its warmth? Does the stream expect praise for its cool water? Does the soil require acknowledgment for supporting the seed? These give according to their nature, without expecting reward.

6 In the same way, goodness is the natural state of the person who understands their place in the greater pattern of existence. It's not a special gift deserving reward but the normal expression of one who sees clearly.

7 For what is goodness but living in harmony with the true nature of things? What is kindness but recognizing our connection with all that lives? What is right action but moving in harmony with the deeper current of reality?

8 The person who demands reward for basic goodness is like someone who expects payment for breathing, or recognition for having a heartbeat. These aren't special achievements but the natural functioning of a human life.

2

1 Throughout their journey, people encounter the persistent illusion of deserving—the belief that the universe operates on principles of fairness and just payment for goodness.

2 This illusion takes many forms. Some believe wealth should flow to the righteous and hardship to the wicked.

3 Some expect suffering should match wrongdoing and joy should match righteousness.

4 Some imagine an invisible ledger where good deeds add up like money, to be exchanged for blessings and protection against misfortune.

5 Some become angry when tragedy strikes them despite their good living.

6 But look at the world as it is, not as human minds wish it to be.

7 The storm doesn't avoid the house of the generous person. Disease doesn't spare the forgiving. Age doesn't slow its effects on the bodies of the kind.

8 The workings of the physical world—the movement of earth's plates, the division of cells, the changing of viruses, the patterns of weather—operate according to their own principles, not according to human ideas of worth and reward.

9 The social world too, with all its complexities and imperfections, doesn't guarantee that kindness will be met with kindness, that honesty will be rewarded with success, that sacrifice will be honored with recognition.

10 The person who bases their goodness on expectations of reward builds their house on shifting sand.

11 When the inevitable storms come—ingratitude, misunderstanding, or simple indifference—this foundation cannot hold.

12 Therefore, let people release the illusion of deserving.

13 Good flows from goodness itself, not from expecting reward.

14 Right action is its own justification, needing no external validation or cosmic balancing.

3

1 If goodness deserves no special reward, why then should we persist in kindness, compassion, and right action? Because these aren't optional virtues but necessary expressions of our true nature and condition.

2 Consider: You didn't create yourself. Your existence depends on countless others—those who cared for you in childhood, those who grow your food, those who built the buildings you live in, those who came before and developed the knowledge you rely on.

3 Your very breath depends on forests and oceans you didn't create. Your health depends on immune systems you didn't design. Your consciousness emerged from processes you didn't start.

4 In light of this basic interconnection, goodness isn't a special achievement but the appropriate response to reality.

5 Gratitude isn't an exceptional virtue but an accurate perception.

6 Generosity isn't sacrifice but participation in the circulation of gifts that sustains all life.

7 The person who withholds goodness is like a cell that refuses to contribute to the body that houses it, like a branch that tries to hoard sunlight from the tree that supports it, like a river that tries to prevent its waters from joining the sea.

8 Such withholding doesn't lead to advantage but to isolation, not to gain but to loss, not to security but to weakness.

9 For we are made for connection and contribution, not for separation and hoarding.

10 Therefore, understand: We practice goodness not to earn rewards but because it aligns us with reality.

11 We act with compassion not to build up points but because compassion fits our condition.

12 We live with generosity not to secure future benefits but because generous participation in life is why we are here.